Justice Stevens says the 2nd Amendment should be repealed:

[Kingofalldems]

Link to tweet

[DavidDvorkin]

1. That will be very difficult

We need to change the complexion of the Supreme Court by taking back the White House and Senate before there's another death or retirement.

Starting the amendment process is fine, but it's a long-term approach.

[quartz007]

2. Wishful thinking is not a plan!

[Lee-Lee]

3. Well, here is all the ammunition the NRA needs

It’s hard to have a coherent message from the left when one side on the left is saying “we respect the Second Amendment and just want resonable changes” and the other side is saying “Repeal the Second Amendment” and “Confiscate then all”.

Before it was easy to say the extreme side were outliers and not representative of what most liberals thought.

This makes that more than a little more difficult, to say the least. This I’ll thought out piece by him is the wet dream of the NRA for fundraising and voter mobilization.

[blake2012]

7. No...when we succeed in banning AR-15s

Then we can say, at least we didn’t repeal 2nd Amendment, you lousy gun humpers

[Lee-Lee]

9. Yeah you need to get a majority in both houses first

This kind of stuff being put out there doesn’t help.

I’m not in favor of most gun control proposals, most here know that. But dammit I want us to seeep hard in the midterms and putting this out there works against that hard.

[Fla Dem]

10. You do realize Justice Stephens was appointed by Gerald Ford, a Republican.

While I'm sure many on the left will agree with Justice Stephens, Democrats and the Democratic Party as a whole are not seeking repeal of the 2nd amendment.

[Lee-Lee]

14. I do, but it wont matter in the narrative

It’s all about winning the midterms.

This editorial will energize a ton on the right during a period when we don’t need that.

[Fla Dem]

17. I totally agreed with you that this kind of editorial messaging will set the gun nuts and

lobbyist's hair on fire. But your comment intimated that it was the left who was saying repeal and the left did not have a coherent message.

It’s hard to have a coherent message from the left when one side on the left is saying “we respect the Second Amendment and just want reasonable changes” and the other side is saying “Repeal the Second Amendment” and “Confiscate then all”.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Not even I would support 'repealing' ... unless it were replaced by more specific language

... appropriate to the current times and state of the 'arms' industry.

[blake2012]

6. Seems like that would be a given

[blake2012]

5. Make it so! Were in 21st centurynot 18th.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

8. Noble sentiment.

Now all we need is 2/3 of Congress and 3/4 of the states to agree with him.

[moondust]

11. Australia

Less than two weeks after the Port Arthur massacre, all six Australian states agreed to enact the same sweeping gun laws banning semi-automatic rifles and shotguns - weapons that can kill many people quickly.

They also put more hurdles between prospective gun owners and their weapons.

Australia has 28-day waiting periods, thorough background checks, and a requirement to present a "justifiable reason" to own a gun.

Unlike in the US, self-protection is not accepted as a justifiable reason to own a gun.

In the 21 years since the laws were passed, about one million semi-automatic weapons - roughly one third of the country's firearms - were sold back to the government and destroyed, nearly halving the number of gun-owning households in Australia.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35048251

[B2G]

12. This is a great way to lose the midterms. nt

[Kingofalldems]

13. Ex SC judge, not a politician.

No Democrat has called for any such thing.

[B2G]

15. How many will vocally agree? nt

[LanternWaste]

16. Keep movin' the goalposts!

Keep movin' the goalposts!

[Kingofalldems]

22. I see. Not really a good try, was it?

[Fla Dem]

19. I don't think a lot, especially in today's climate.

For many Dems it would be political suicide. But give it another 10 years and you might see some major changes.

[blake2012]

18. Haha. There are certain people who can be counted on to say certain things

Too easy

[B2G]

20. Yeah, you and I, we go way back.

Just over a month.

So you're saying we should embrace this point of view?

[CreekDog]

24. with all due respect, i don't take political advice from someone who opposed Medicaid expansion

and opposed requiring insurance companies to insure for maternity related care and childbirth.

and to top it off has posted in support of anti-choice laws in various states.

[JI7]

27. and so much more

[peggysue2]

21. I have no problems with Justice Stevens representing . .

the far side of the spectrum which counterbalances the extreme of the gun cultists. But where true change will come? Is from the middle.

You do not see the March for Our Lives people or the Moms of Sandy Hook calling for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment. They're demanding reform and regulation, particularly on military-grade weapons in the hands of private citizens. They're calling along with 91% of the American public for universal background checks and with the 70-80% calling for closing loopholes, for mental health alerts. There's now a 60+% approval for banning all assault, military-grade weaponry.

It's pushing the wheel forward with sustained peaceful activism. It's changing minds slowly, more slowly than we'd like, but surely.

The NRA and the gun fetishists know this. That's why they're screeching; their day of reckoning is coming.

[Blue_true]

25. I think sadly.

That we are going to have several more Las Vegas, Sandy Hook and Parkland type slaughters before the heat becomes so intense that there will be no choice but to make some guns unavailable. I just don't think that we are there yet, sadly. Parkland has rattled supporters of guns for everyone, that is why they are attacking the Parkland kids in personal ways.

One regional superstore (Fred Meyer) has decided to completely stop selling guns in it's stores. There will be more retailers doing that after the next tragedy, sadly it will take another tragedy for momentum to shift toward complete banning of some types of guns.

[peggysue2]

29. Oh, I think you're right, Blue_True

None of this is going to happen quickly, regardless of how effective the March for Our Lives students have been redirecting the national conversation. Moms for Sandy Hook, Moms Demand Action have been working tirelessly for the last 5 years and the needle has only just started to move in a positive way. And that was after twenty babies were torn to pieces!

You're undoubtedly right: there will be more tragedy and senseless death. But each push forward is a push for a better future with less violence and fewer guns. The Parkland kids have given the country something to hope for and that's a good thing. Despite the obstacles.

[MyNameGoesHere]

23. Well that's one way to "Release the Cave Dwellers!"

Plenty of educating to follow.

[Mike Nelson]

26. Wish he...

...had not retired... but I don't think now is the time to promote this idea.

[aikoaiko]

28. Justice Stephens just proved the NRA right - gun controllers seek to repeal 2nd

I wonder if he is on th NRA payroll because they couldn’t ask for better propoganda fodder.

Sadly I see many Democrats eating it up but it will be used against us as the party of gun restrictions in 2018 and 2020.