Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens called on gun control activists to demand a repeal of the Second Amendment in the wake of protests across the country aimed at pressuring lawmakers to act on stricter gun regulations.
In an op-ed for the New York Times, Stevens, who was nominated by Republican President Gerald Ford and went on to be part of the court’s liberal block until his retirement in 2010, said students and gun control advocates should push lawmakers to go much further than banning semiautomatic weapons and increasing the minimum age to buy a firearm.
“That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms,” he wrote. “But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.”
Stevens argued the Second Amendment was written to allow citizens to form “a well regulated militia” at a time when there was concern about the idea of standing armies and and thus it was a “relic of the 18th century.”
……..
- Discussion
-
Former Supreme Court justice wants to repeal the Second Amendment https://t.co/aRsxGx5r9a pic.twitter.com/iR3EV7p8RZ
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 27, 2018
I prefer a straightforward John Paul Stevens “repeal the Second Amendment” argument to the “we just want simple, commonsense solutions like Australia’s mandatory buyback program” double talk.
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) March 27, 2018
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.