Moving the goalposts

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote an Op-Ed in the paper of record yesterday advocating the repeal of the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, the ambiguously worded "right to keep and bear arms".  Of course many on both sides of the issues needed a fainting couch after reading Steven's argument.  The right counted it as rankest heresy and the left as a classic overreach.  Personally, I think Stevens was trolling the opponents of gun control and in a table turning gambit was using the gun nuts own strategy of moving the goal posts in the direction he wishes the argument to be fought.   Of course we will never, at least in my lifetime repeal the 2nd amendment.  But with even a hint such a thing might happen, all of a sudden, things like assault weapons bans and stringent licensing and insurance regulations become possible.  Instead of absolutist positions, compromise becomes a possibility.  The right has been doing this for years.  It's time the rest of us use the same tactics for progressive causes.  Justice Stevens is on to something.