They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment. [For more on the gun legislation debate and other issues, subscribe to our Opinion Today newsletter.] Advertisement Continue reading the main storyFor over 200 years after the adoption of the Second Amendment, it was uniformly understood as not placing any limit on either federal or state authority to enact gun control legislation. In 1939 the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a “well regulated militia.”

Source: New York Times March 27, 2018 09:45 UTC