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again, I'm playing devils advocate here:  Path 2: o Step 1: Two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) ask for Congress to call “a convention for proposing amendments.” o Step 2: States send delegates to this convention, where they can propose amendments to the Constitution. o Step 3: Three-fourths of the states (38 states) ratify an amendment approved by the “convention for proposing amendments,” either by their legislatures or special ratifying conventions. What keeps hard core lib states like California, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia to name a few, to come in and subvert the process and place their own liberal amendments?

2 things... The COS will decide on a process for getting amendments approved and out to the states AND no matter what is proposed by a whacky, liberal state, it would have to be ratified by 38 (3/4) of the states...

So if CA decided that they wanted a 2A repeal, it would FIRST have to get through the COS amendment process (unlikely) but IF IT DID, are there 38 states to adopt AND vote yes?

Here is some boilerplate I usually add to these threads.

*** BEGIN ***

The amendatory process under Article V consists of three steps: Proposal, Disposal, and Ratification.

Proposal:

There are two ways to propose an amendment to the Constitution.

The Congressional Method requires the House and Senate to pass an amendment by a two-thirds majority.
The Amendments Convention Method requires the legislatures of two-thirds of the states to petition Congress to call a Convention for Proposing Amendments. The states may request a single-subject convention or a general convention open to all subjects. Once the two-thirds threshold is reached, Congress is required to set a time and place for the convention.

Article V gives Congress and an Amendments Convention exactly the same power to propose amendments, no more and no less.

Disposal:

Once Congress, or an Amendments Convention, proposes amendments, Congress must decide whether the states will ratify by the:

State Legislature Method, or the
State Ratifying Convention Method.

The State Ratifying Convention Method has only been used twice: once to ratify the Constitution, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.

Ratification:

Depending upon which ratification method is chosen by Congress, either the state legislatures vote up-or-down on the proposed amendment, or the voters elect a state ratifying convention to vote up-or-down. If three-quarters of the states vote to ratify, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution.

Forbidden Subjects:

Article V contains two explicitly forbidden subjects and one implicitly forbidden subject.

Explicitly forbidden:

No amendment may be added to the Constitution concerning slavery until 1808. We’re past that deadline.
No amendment may be added to the Constitution to change the principle of equal representation in the Senate. If California wants five senators, every state has to have five senators.

Implicity forbidden:

Throwing out the Constitution of 1787 and replacing it with a new document. Article V only authorizes “a convention for proposing amendments to this Constitution”; therefore, the Constitution of 1787 is locked in place forever. Congress and an Amendments Convention have exactly the same Proposal power; therefore, neither Congress nor an Amendments Convention can start over. Both bodies can only propose amendments.

I have two reference works for those interested.

The first is from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative pro-business group. This document has been sent to every state legislator in the country.

Proposing Constitutional Amendments by a Convention of the States: A Handbook for State Lawmakers

The second is a 1973 report from the American Bar Association attempting to identify gray areas in the amendatory process to include an Amendments Convention. It represents the view of the ruling class of 40 years ago. While I dislike some of their conclusions, they have laid out the precedents that may justify those conclusions. What I respect is the comprehensive job they did in locating all the gray areas. They went so far as to identify a gray area that didn't pop up until the Equal Rights Amendment crashed and burned a decade later. Even if you find yourself in disagreement with their vision, it's worth reading to see the view of the ruling class toward the process.

Report of the ABA Special Constitutional Convention Study Committee