Chris White of the Daily Caller reports on interesting reactions to retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ suggestion that Americans repeal the Second Amendment.
Left-leaning members of the media who are worried about upcoming elections want retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens to stop suggesting lawmakers repeal the Second Amendment.
The Washington Post and Think Progress writers don’t want Stevens’ call to amend the U.S. Constitution to rile up gun-owning, blue-collar workers before the November election. They are asking the 97-year-old former jurist to keep his opinions about gun control to himself.
“It’s a provocative claim, but it also raises serious questions about what planet Justice Stevens is living on,” Think Progress editor Ian Millhiser wrote Tuesday in reference to a The New York Times editorial Stevens wrote, suggesting Republicans and Democrats eliminate the Second Amendment.
“There is nothing ‘simple’ about removing a constitutional amendment,” Millhiser noted before suggesting the move could reshape a sizable portion of the electorate. Polling firm SurveyMonkey published maps from its 2016 presidential election exit polls in October 2017, which showed voters who reported living in a gun-owning household overwhelmingly backed President Donald Trump.
WaPo reporter Aaron Blake’s analysis of Stevens’ position was a little more to the point.
“[R]arely do we see such an unhelpful, untimely and fanciful idea as the one put forward by retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens,” Blake wrote in a Tuesday analysis trashing the former justice’s position.
“The move might as well be considered an in-kind contribution to the National Rifle Association, to Republicans’ efforts to keep the House and Senate in 2018, and to President Trump’s 2020 reelection bid,” Blake argued.
