Top legal mind wants right to bear arms axed
UNITED STATES: A former justice in the highest US court has broken a political taboo by calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment, which grants Americans the right to bear arms.
In an opinion piece, John Paul Stevens, 97, a retired Supreme Court judge, described the second article in the Bill of Rights as ‘‘a relic of the 18th century’’.
It is thought to be the first time that a former Supreme Court judge has called for the repeal of the amendment.
The commentary, published yesterday in
The New York Times, provoked a backlash from gun owners. They said it proved their suspicion that the true aim of those advocating for tighter firearms laws was to ban them altogether.
The Second Amendment was adopted in 1791, 15 years after America’s declaration of independence, amid fears that a national standing army might threaten the security of the 13 newly formed states.
It was intended to protect the rights of militias, Stevens said, but that concern was no longer relevant in the 21st century. Violence inflicted by armed individuals was, on the other hand, a pressing problem.
In the past the Supreme Court has upheld the right of the federal government to limit firearms. That precedent was scuppered after a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 2008, which ruled that the Second Amendment protected not only the rights of militias but also individuals to have guns – a decision from which Stevens dissented.
That case, he argued, ‘‘has provided the [National Rifle Association] with a propaganda weapon of immense power’’ and had made legislating on gun control impossible.
Stevens spoke out after a weekend of demonstrations led by students demanding stricter gun laws. ‘‘That simple but dramatic action [of repeal] would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform,’’ he wrote. ‘‘It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honour the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.’’
A repeal would require twothirds of states to ratify the change. This has been done only once, when the 18th ‘‘prohibition’’ Amendment banning the sale of alcohol was quashed.
Asked whether US President Donald Trump had any reaction to Stevens’ comments, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president and administration ‘‘still fully support the Second Amendment’’.
‘‘We think that the focus has to remain on removing weapons from dangerous individuals, not on blocking all Americans from their constitutional rights,’’ she said.
The NRA also issued a statement in response to Stevens’ essay. ‘‘The men and women of the National Rifle Association, along with the majority of the American people and the Supreme Court, believe in the Second Amendment right to self-protection, and we will unapologetically continue to fight to protect this fundamental freedom,’’ it said. – The Times, AP