‘Repeal the Second Amendment’ Trends on Twitter

Following the publication of a New York Times article on the topic, “Repeal The Second Amendment” has been trending on Twitter.

Shortly after the publication of an op-ed written by former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens for the New York Times titled “Repeal The Second Amendment,” the same phrase began to trend on Twitter. Many Twitter users began retweeting Stevens’ article and commenting on the issue of firearms and the second amendment. The hashtag has begun trending just days after the March For Our Lives protest in Washington D.C.

 

The Top News section of the trending topic featured a link to Stevens’ article which displayed an image comparing an 18th-century rifle to a modern semi-automatic rifle. The tagline for the article reads “This weekend’s marches make it clear: To enact real gun control, we need to change the constitution.”

A number of Twitter users tweeted about Stevens’ article:

Others were quick to call out Stevens, even some on the left:

https://twitter.com/LadyInfidels/status/978620480260321280

Stevens’ article states:

Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday. These demonstrations demand our respect. They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.

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. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.

The full op-ed can be read in the New York Times here.