Looming SCOTUS Fight Puts 2A in Crosshairs; Nov. Election Critical

The Roberts Court, November 30, 2018. Seated, from left to right: Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel A. Alito. Standing, from left to right: Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Brett M. Kavanaugh. Photograph by Fred Schilling, Supreme Court Curator’s Office.

U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- Before last Friday, it was urgent for every gun owner in the country to vote in the November election, and now with the death of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it is critical for the survival of the Second Amendment to retain the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate and for Donald Trump to be elected to a second term, many in the gun rights community are saying today.

That much is clear, thanks to some observations over the weekend by John Lott during his presentation for the virtual Gun Rights Policy Conference, and strong hints from Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about impeachment to prevent a Trump nomination to fill Ginsburg’s seat. The president told Fox News Monday he has narrowed the list of potential nominees to five individuals, and he promised to “announce his pick by Friday or Saturday.”

Trump also suggested that if Pelosi does try to launch an impeachment effort, it would propel him to a second term.

As reported by Reuters, “The passing of Ginsburg upended the November election contests, energizing both Trump’s conservative base – eager to see the court overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide – and presenting new complications in the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.”

Reportedly on the president’s shortlist are Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 48, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Judge Barbara Logoa, 52, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and Judge Allison Jones Rushing, 38, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, Fox News reported.

Were one of them to be appointed to the high court vacancy, it would provide a certain constitutional majority, one that would likely uphold the Second Amendment as a fundamental, individual right.

That’s where Lott’s remarks at the Gun Rights Conference become so important.

During his online appearance at the 35th annual event, Lott discussed the federal courts and the failure of the high court to take any of the ten cases that were on the table for possible review.

“The problem,” Lott asserted, “has been John Roberts, the chief justice. From people I’ve been able to talk to…It seems clear to the (conservative) justices that if they were to go and bring one of these cases—and it only takes four justices to…grant cert—John Roberts would go and vote the other way just as he’s voted the other way on a range of issues from religious freedom, DACA to Obamacare, and if he did that, that would create a horrible precedent. In fact, it could be used to make sure that any gun control law could get passed.”

Ginsburg died Friday following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. The 87-year-old jurist is being remembered as a pioneer and liberal icon, while also being criticized by gun rights activists on social media for her history of voting against recognizing the individual right to keep and bear arms.

Democrats do not want a pro-Second Amendment majority on the nation’s highest court, and they are making it clear they will fight to prevent it. How much help they may get from a few Senate Republicans remains to be seen, but there is much at stake in November, including the rights of an estimated 100 million-plus American gun owners.

Reuters and other news agencies have reported at least two Republicans are shying away from a quick appointment. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski reportedly doesn’t support filling the high court vacancy before the November election, and neither does Maine Sen. Susan Collins. She is currently locked in a tight re-election battle, Reuters noted, but it is not clear whether her reluctance to support a fast replacement will help or hurt her chances of getting conservatives to the polls in seven weeks.

Replacing Ginsburg is already being made a campaign issue in Arizona, where anti-gun Democrat former astronaut Mark Kelly is running hard to defeat incumbent Republican Sen. Martha McSally. If Kelly wins, he could take office in late November, according to the New York Times.

“If Mark Kelly, the Democratic nominee, wins, he could be seated in the Senate as early as Nov. 30, six weeks before the other winners are sworn in, according to elections experts from both parties,” the Times reported. “Mr. Kelly currently leads Senator Martha McSally, a Republican, in the polls.

“There are many ifs,” the Times acknowledged. “If the Arizona results can be rapidly certified, and if Senate Republicans hold a confirmation vote in the postelection lame-duck session and if three Republicans defect, Mr. Kelly could cast the deciding vote to defeat Mr. Trump’s as-yet unnamed pick to the high court.”

This provides Republicans all the more reason to turn out the vote in Arizona, and to defend their Senate majority elsewhere as well.

Democrats were quick to recall how the Senate stalled filling Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat in 2016, instead waiting until after the election of Trump to succeed Barack Obama.

But as Reuters noted, “Republican Senator John Barrasso on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday brushed off Democratic complaints about the nomination process.” A check of the program’s transcription confirms this.

“Let’s be very clear,” Barrasso said, “if the shoe were on the other foot and the Democrats had the White House and the Senate, they would right now be trying to confirm another member of the Supreme Court.”

Expect Democrats to pull out all the stops between now and November, not just to defeat Trump—which they’ve been trying to do since before he was inaugurated in January 2017—but now to also prevent him from installing a Second Amendment majority on the Supreme Court.

Perhaps the situation is best summed up by Robert Romano, vice president of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government. Writing over the weekend in The Daily Torch, Romano stated, “Make no mistake, if Democrats had maintained a Senate majority in 2014, they would have easily confirmed Garland in 2016. But, they lost nine seats — and elections have consequences.”

And rest assured, this year’s elections will have consequences as well. This is all the more reason for gun owners to make sure they vote, say many rights activists.

 


About Dave WorkmanDave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

Dave Workman
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Jonesy

“The 87-year-old jurist is being remembered as a pioneer” I call BS on this part of the sentence. Anyone who states that South Africa’s Constitution should replace our own is no “Pioneer.

Tionico

she WAS a pioneer.. in redirecting this nation down a very dangerous road. She thought we’d be doing just fine if we were to enact a constitution like South Africa’s. That would be a “new road” for us to travel upon. One quick look at where SA are now is enough to prove Ginsie wrong. In that contry right now, roving gangs of murderous blacks are coming to each of the white-owned large farms, brutaly murdeing the owners and help, destroying the stuctures and equipment, then on to the next. Dummies don’t seem to comrehend that it has been precisely… Read more »

Relic

I just want to know who will be strongest defender of the 2nd amendment now that we know Gorsuch is a compromised liberal leaning Roberts jr. Why can’t anyone write about that & definitively rank the most pro gun candidate’s? We need to all make sure we have 100% registered Republicans voting. If anywhere near 100% gop vote we would have a supermajority & would finally be able to stamp out CAs bs laws. I called commiebergs death before the election exactly btw,I told everyone she was going to go any day now.(1 thing off my bucket list is outliving… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Relic
Stag

None of them are 2A defenders. They’re all fine with some infringement.

Green Mtn. Boy

The is the best thing about Commiebergs passing,it will checkmate C J Roberts leftist’s tendencies and sideline him without impeachment.

Grigori

Hi Oldvet. Actually, Roberts has been swinging left since before Trump. He voted not once, but twice, in favor of the Obamacare individual mandate (fee, fine, tax, or whatever). The opinion he used to justify that vote was written by none other than Kavanaugh, before he became a “Justice”.

Relic

The min Obama lied about it being a tax,it should seize to be a defense before the highest court. (Remember when the cvnt that wrote ACA got caught saying” demonrats are imbeciles for believing that it wasn’t a tax, they’ll believe anything” Obama/Deep staters have dirt on Roberts & its been used over him clearly. Kavannaugh is a cabin boy that lacks courage to stand by his convictions even if it upsets Queef justice Roberts imo

Vern

The writer of the ACA called the American people, “Stupid,” the democrats and Obama agreed with him. They knew the next batch of freebies would wipe out the memories of those the term was used on. But what about the rest of the American people, did they forget as well?

Tionico

the battle over replacing the old goat is not JUST about our right to arms. Oh no. It is about whether the words in the COnstitution will continue to mean what they are supposed to mean, and for the most part have meant, since the ink dried on that parchment two and a half centuries ago. I’ve watched a number of non “second ammendment” cases fail to get certiori, and thus die. Many of those were important cases as well,affecting our liberty in important ways.

Stag

Even the so called “conservative” justices are butters and Fudds so I wouldn’t put too much faith in them restoring our 2A rights.

Ryben Flynn

All three of the female Judges were appointed by President Trump.

Vern

No, they weren’t.

Dave in Fairfax

Ryben Flynn,

Sandra Day O’Connor – Ronald Reagan
Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Bill Clinton
Sonia Sotomayor – Obama
Elena Kagan – Obama

Which women were you thinking of?

Tionico

I understood him to mean the three femals federal court justices (not SUpreme COurt) that are on Trump’s shortlist.

Dave in Fairfax

Sure would be nice if he’d chime in and explain what he meant.

Knute

“Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack…and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet…”
-Rule #6 of the “25 rules of disinformation”
https://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/the-25-rules-of-disinformation/

Dave in Fairfax

Sure makes it hard to have a decent conversation.

Random71

Thats the point, they dont want open conversation or discussion. They want to squelch it down to their approved points and ideals. All trying to shift and narrow the Overton window even further.

Arny

Some of us don’t get notified via email even though I have Ammoland in contacts. At least for comments. This could be the issue.

Dave in Fairfax

Arny, I’m guessing that you’re tlaking about using the “follow” button. I’m not sure of what to tell you about that, have you cleared your cache recently? On some e-mail systems they tend not to show you things that you’ve already seen and it might be filtering on that. What I do rather than do “follows”, since that would quickly become overwhelming, is to bookmark comments in threads that I’m watching and check them every time I get a spare moment. It’s a bit of a PITA, but it makes sure that I have a fighting chance of catching the… Read more »