Stevens: Repeal 2nd Amendment

WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for significant gun control legislation.

Stevens, 97, said in an essay Tuesday on The New York Times website that repeal would weaken the National Rifle Association’s ability to “block constructive gun control legislation.”

Stevens was on the losing end of a 2008 ruling in which the high court held that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own a gun for self-defense. He had previously called for changing the Second Amendment to permit gun control.

Stevens said the decision in that case, District of Columbia v. Heller, “has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power.”

Stevens retired from the court in 2010, after more than 35 years. In his essay, Stevens talked about the March for Our Lives events Saturday that drew crowds in cities across the country. Stevens said the demonstrations “reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others.” He said the 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.”