For too long, the Democrats have been dancing around the 2nd Amendment. They want to ban “assault weapons” and want “reasonable gun control measures.” In other words, they want the issue, but they don’t want to do anything about it. They didn’t when they had majorities under President Carter, President Clinton or President Obama!
In 2008, the Supreme Court overturned Chief Justice Burger’s and others’ long-settled understanding of the Second Amendment’s limited reach by ruling, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that there was an individual right to bear arms. I was among the four dissenters.
That decision — which I remain convinced was wrong and certainly was debatable — has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power. Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple and would do more to weaken the N.R.A..’s ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option.
That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform. It would eliminate the only legal rule that protects sellers of firearms in the United States — unlike every other market in the world. It would make our schoolchildren safer than they have been since 2008 and honor the memories of the many, indeed far too many, victims of recent gun violence.
So let’s stop talking about “gun rights” or “gun control” and go to the heart of the matter.
It would be very good for the country to have a referendum on the 2nd Amendment. It would be a rare opportunity to settle the issue for good.
Of course, and with all due respect to Justice Stevens, it will never happen. It won’t happen because the Democrats do not have the courage to fight against the 2nd Amendment anywhere except the op-ed pages of the New York Times.
