Former Supreme Court Justice calls for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment.

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Steve Petteway. 

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has called for a total repeal of the 2nd Amendment. The Hill. Stevens said efforts to ban semiautomatic firearms, raising the age to buy firearms and universal background checks are a "good start" but said lasting change would require a repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Stevens argued that there is no right for individual gun ownership and that repealing the 2nd Amendment would allow gun companies to be sued for people using guns. 

My Comment:

You can read the opinion piece by Stevens here. 

What's my take on it? It's about the most disgusting thing I have ever read. The very idea that completely banning the vast majority of firearms in this country, semiautomatics, is a first step is so far beyond the pale that I would say it was a parody but it appears to be all too real. Such  ban would have a decent chance of causing a civil war if the government was stupid enough to go door to door to enforce it. 

But Stevens wants to go even further and fully repeal the 2nd Amendment, getting rid of the right to keep and bear arms. Such an act would almost certainly result in civil war and would be the end of the American Republic. I can't imagine that there are many gun rights advocates or even run of the mill Republicans that would go along with such a repeal. The 2nd Amendment is one of our most treasured and won't be given up without a fight. 

I also think that it would cause huge federalism problems as well. My right to keep and bear arms is not only guaranteed by the 2nd amendment but by my State's constitution. 44 states have such a provision and repealing the 2nd Amendment would violate each one. A list of each state that has these provisions and how they are worded can be found here. Obviously Federal Law trumps State Law but destroying the constitutional right of 44 states is horrible and not something the States would accept. 

I think this really goes to show the ideological underpinnings of the gun control movement. The last few weeks have shown that they, despite protestations that they don't want to take away guns, really, really, really want to take away guns. Some of that is ignorance as many people don't understand that a semi-auto or an assault weapon ban would essentially ban the vast majority of firearms, but there really are a lot of people out there that want all guns banned and the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution repealed. 

I also think that this is a rather naked and blatant attempt by Stevens and the New York Times to shift the Overton Window to get the idea of repealing the 2nd amendment inside of it. At the very least it is an attempt to make the demands of the gun control movement, who don't support a 2nd amendment ban, at least in terms of words, not action, sound more reasonable in comparison. 

Many on the gun control side will protest that they really don't want a full ban and that nobody is going to try and repeal the 2nd Amendment. Those people are either lying to you or lying to themselves as it is very clear that the movement is trying to go in that direction. Until a serious effort at compromise is made (ie giving us CCW reciprocity, opening up NICS to civilians and getting ride of the suppressor and short barrel rifle bans and a complete guarantee that the 2nd Amendment isn't going anywhere) no one is going to believe gun control advocates that say they don't want a repeal. 

All that being said, could such a repeal happen? Almost certainly not. A constitutional amendment vote would require 2/3rds of the Senate and House to go along with it or a constitutional convention, which is even more unlikely, to pass into law. Republicans control both houses, would never go along with this, and even if they get wiped out in the 2018 midterms the Democrats wouldn't likely win so much that they could reach that 2/3rds threshold. Something would have to massively change in this country in terms of party affiliation for there to even be a chance of this succeeding. 

And even if they did I don't think the Democrats would try it. They understand that even advocating a repeal of the 2nd Amendment would galvanize the Republicans like never before and could even result in violence. And that's before anything was passed. If it did, then there would likely be fighting, death and destruction. I sincerely hope that nobody on either side really wants war, but if this is the way the gun control movement heads, I don't see how it can be avoided... 

Finally, I am extremely thankful that Justice Stevens is no longer on the bench. He was always wrong on gun rights and wrong on quite a few other things as well. As far as I think, any nominee that would repeal any of the bill of rights amendments should be completely disqualified from serving and should be removed from the bench if they express that opinion. That, too, would require a constitutional amendment to pass, but I think my suggestion has a better chance than a 2nd Amendment repeal!