By
MARSHA MERCER
Retired
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens rattled the National Rifle
Association’s cage -- with predictable results.
Stevens,
impressed by March for Our Lives demonstrations last Saturday, called for repeal
of the Second Amendment, which he said is antiquated.
The
amendment, as you know, states “a well regulated militia, being necessary to
the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms,
shall not be infringed.”
It
was adopted out of “concern that a national standing army might pose a threat
to the security of the separate states,” Stevens wrote Tuesday in an op-ed in
The New York Times. “Today that concern is a relic of the 18th
century.”
Told
ya so, the NRA crowed.
“I
have long said the ultimate goal of the left is the complete repeal of the
Second Amendment,” said NRATV host Grant Stinchfield. “This is proof, my
friends.”
No,
actually, it’s not.
Stevens
was expressing his own provocative opinion. He doesn’t speak for “the left” any
more than the NRA speaks for all gun owners, many of whom support common-sense
gun safety measures.
The
inspiring young protesters would be wise to thank Stevens, 97, for his support and
get to work lobbying their legislators, registering to vote, backing candidates
who support stricter gun laws and voting.
Repeal
isn’t “simple,” as he said, or even doable. It’s a distraction, and a
self-defeating one.
President
Donald Trump’s response to Stevens – complete with the laying on of the caps
lock key and exclamation points -- shows he thinks this is just the issue to fire
up his base.
“THE
SECOND AMENDMENT WILL NEVER BE REPEALED! As much as Democrats would like to see
this happen and despite the words yesterday of former Supreme Court Justice
Stevens, NO WAY. We need more Republicans in 2018 and must ALWAYS hold the
Supreme Court!” Trump tweeted at 4:52 a.m. Wednesday.
Yes,
4:52 a.m.
Only
about one in five voters strongly or somewhat favors repeal, according to an Economist-YouGov
poll in February, which found tepid support for repeal among Democrats, about
39 percent. Only 8 percent of Republicans supported repeal.
Stevens,
appointed to the court by Republican President Gerald Ford, became a liberal
bulwark. He retired in 2010, two years after writing a dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller, which determined there is an
individual right to bear arms. Stevens still believes the court’s decision in
that case was wrong.
“In
1939 the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the
possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that weapon had no reasonable relation
to the preservation or efficiency of a `well regulated militia,’” he wrote in The
Times.
The
idea that gun rights were limited held until the 1980s, when the NRA and other
groups mobilized, he said.
Amending
the Constitution is intentionally difficult. The likely path requires a
two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate and ratification by
three-fourths of the states.
Alternatively, two-thirds of the states could call for a
constitutional convention where amendments would be proposed. That would open
the door to heaven knows what – and is so daunting it’s never been tried. The
amendments would then need to be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
If
trying to repeal the Second Amendment is not the solution to ending gun
violence, grassroots activism could be.
With
Trump having backed off his support for gun safety measures and Congress apparently
paralyzed, gun safety advocates are smart to focus on the states. But they’ll need
to persevere to make even modest progress.
After
protests in Tallahassee following the Parkland shootings Feb. 14, Florida Gov.
Rick Scott, a Republican, signed tighter gun laws, including raising to 21 the
minimum age to buy rifles and shotguns, requiring a three-day waiting period to
buy long guns and arming some staff.
The NRA immediately filed suit to block some of the provisions.
Rhode
Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, signed a “red flag” executive order policy
Feb. 26, allowing police to take guns from people who pose a danger to
themselves or others.
“If
the federal government won’t act, states need to do more to prevent the gun
violence that has become far too common,” Raimondo said.
©2018 Marsha Mercer.
All rights reserved.
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