Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamGraham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Fox's Napolitano: Supreme Court confirmation hearings will be 'World War III of political battles' Grassley, Ernst pledge to 'evaluate' Trump's Supreme Court nominee MORE (R-S.C.) on Tuesday slammed retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens for calling for a repeal of the Second Amendment.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Stevens recommended repealing the amendment as a first step to enacting gun control, prompting Graham to say he is “glad” the justice is retired.

“I will PROTECT the Second Amendment … not REPEAL it,” Graham tweeted. “Like every American, Justice Stevens is entitled to his opinion, but I am very glad he is now retired.”

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The GOP lawmaker added that he has “zero intention of following” Stevens’s suggestion, and criticized “out-of-touch” liberals for attacking the Second Amendment.

“Statements like this epitomize out-of-touch liberals who do not appreciate the important role the Second Amendment has played – and continues to play – in our nation,” Graham added.

I have zero intention of following Stevens counsel.



In fact, statements like this epitomize out-of-touch liberals who do not appreciate the important role the Second Amendment has played – and continues to play – in our nation. — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 27, 2018

Graham added in a statement that Stevens's comments should serve as a reminder to conservatives “just how important Supreme Court nominations can be.”

“It makes me appreciate President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE’s nomination and the Senate’s confirmation of Justice Gorsuch even more,” he said.

Stevens, a Republican, argued in his op-ed that the right to bear arms as guaranteed by the Second Amendment is outdated and misunderstood.

He encouraged pro-gun control activists, like the organizers of the March for Our Lives rally in Washington over the weekend, to “seek more effective and more lasting reform” through a repeal of the Second Amendment.

"That simple but dramatic action would move Saturday’s marchers closer to their objective than any other possible reform,” Stevens wrote.