Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: ‘Repeal the Second Amendment’

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says the right to bear arms has run its course, and now’s the time to “repeal the Second Amendment.”

He suggests that student protesters should shift their focus from pursuing legislation to pursuing a change in the constitution.

The Hill quoted a New York Times‘ op-ed, in which Steven praised the efforts of students protesters, then said, “Demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.”

He stressed his belief that there is ample support to raise the minimum age for long gun purchases, “[prohibit] civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons,” and enact universal background checks. But made clear that more should be done.

Stevens expressed his continued disagreement with the District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) decision, suggesting that a repeal of the Second Amendment would remove the hindrances posed by that decision and would allow sellers of firearms to be sued once more. He described removing Heller via repeal of the Second Amendment as a “simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.