PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Gun Control Advocates Do Want To Take Away Your Guns - Just Ask John Paul Stevens :: 03/29/2018
Bill of Rights: In a New York Times op-ed, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens flat out calls for repealing the 2nd Amendment. While his reasoning makes one wonder how he got on the Court in the first place, he does expose the true agenda of gun control advocates.
Stevens begins by praising the "civic engagement" of the youthful protesters, and says Congress should respond by passing a ban on semi-automatic weapons — a ban that was completely ineffective when it was in place for a decade in the 1990s. He wants to raise the age to buy a gun to 21 and establish tougher background checks.
That's exactly what all gun control advocates say they want. Their refrain is constant: We respect people's right to own guns, we just want prudent restrictions that will protect the children.
But then Stevens goes on to say that "demonstrators should seek more effective and lasting reform."
And what does he mean by that? "They should demand a repeal of the 2nd Amendment."
Stevens complains about the 2008 Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court — by a 5-4 margin — overturned a D.C. gun ban as unconstitutional because the Constitution protects the individual's right to bear arms.
Stevens implies that this decision has made children less safe, although the rate of gun homicides was lower in 2015 than it was in 2008, according to the CDC, as was the number of children under 14 killed by guns.
"Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the 2nd Amendment would be simple," he says, "and would do more to weaken the NRA's ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option."
Fortunately, the founders who wrote the Constitution — the one that Stevens calls "a relic of the 18th century" — did not make repealing parts of it "simple." As he ought to know, it's anything but a simple process, which is why there have only been 17 amendments in the 229 years since the Bill of Rights was added.
Nor would there be anything simple about enforcing such a repeal, given that there are hundreds of millions of guns in people's hands today.
There is absolutely no evidence that gun bans will make anyone safer, and plenty of evidence that the opposite occurs. Gun deaths were trending down while gun ownership rates climbed.
There is also no clear relationship between homicide rates and the grades states receive from gun control advocates on the strength of their gun laws.
But give Stevens credit for this: While his argument has more holes than a firing range target, he's at least being honest.
That's more than you can say for most gun control advocates, who routinely exaggerate and lie to make their case.
After the Florida school shooting, for example, we were told that there were 18 school shootings in the first month and a half of the year — which was completely false.
The March for Our Lives organizers claimed that 800,000 people — children and their supporters — showed up in Washington, and that rally was organized by the Florida school students. The actual count was more like 200,000, only 10% of whom weren't adults, and 75% of whom were regulars at protests, at a rally that was obviously organized by professional gun control and other liberal advocacy groups.
Despite claims to the contrary, the U.S. isn't the "only" country to have mass shootings. In fact, it doesn't rank in the top 10.
Gun deaths don't exceed traffic deaths. Not even close.
But the most egregious falsehood gun control advocates peddle is that they don't want to take away anyone's 2nd Amendment rights. Most simply pretend not to, knowing that coming out and saying what they really believe will ruin their efforts.
As John Lott explained in these pages, "Gun control advocates keep claiming that they don't want to ban guns — they only want reasonable regulations. But their actions keep saying otherwise."
He then provides a long list of examples.
Former Justice Stevens is right that the only real way to take away guns is to repeal the 2nd Amendment. Anyone who claims otherwise is selling a bill of goods.
But Stevens, and everyone else who wants to repeal the 2nd of the 10 Bill of Rights, is dead wrong that it would make the country safer.
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