Ex-Supreme Court Justice Calls For Repealing Second Amendment

WASHINGTON, DC — John Paul Stevens, the 97-year-old former Supreme Court justice who retired eight years ago, has called for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for the passage of major gun control laws. Stevens says in an essay for The New York Times that a repeal would weaken the National Rifle Association's ability to "block constructive gun control legislation."

Stevens says he has almost never seen the type of civic engagement that students and their supporters demonstrated as part of the March for Our Lives rallies in Washington, D.C., and other major cities.

"These demonstrations demand our respect," he wrote. "They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society."

Stevens said it's clear to lawmakers they must ban semiautomatic weapons, increase the minimum age to buy a gun to 21 and establish more comprehensive background checks. But, he said, the demonstrators need to demand a "more effective and more lasting reform." A repeal.

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

The decision in that case, District of Columbia v. Heller, "provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power," Stevens said. He retired from the court after more than 35 years.

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