Seated from left to right: Justices Samuel A. Alito, Jr. and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor
Standing from left to right: Justices Brett M. Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Photograph by Fred Schilling, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court – -(AmmoLand.com)- Let’s get one thing straight: Due to the failure of Second Amendment supporters to push Donald Trump and pro-Second Amendment senators in Georgia over the finish line, retiring Associate Justice Stephen Breyer will likely be replaced by another anti-Second Amendment extremist. That said, it still presents a huge opportunity for Second Amendment supporters.
First of all, we need to disabuse ourselves of the notion that this Supreme Court nominee will be anything but a vote to overturn Heller. That should be clear. But Second Amendment supporters should hope that ultimately, whoever Biden picks has a temperament closer to Sonia Sotomayor’s.
National Review’s Charles C. W. Cooke points out the reasoning very simply: All things being equal, a Sotomayor-esque justice will actually make it more likely that Roberts and Kavanaugh, the “swing” votes on SCOTUS, will side with Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett on Second Amendment cases (and others that matter to Second Amendment supporters).
Yes, it will be a lifetime vote against the Second Amendment, but if we are to have an anti-Second Amendment extremist on the court, it is better that the anti-Second Amendment justice be someone who most will see as an extremist and not one with a “moderate” face. That will be something crucial to secure not just Heller, but future cases like NYSRPA v. Bruen.
Second, this is the time to make it clear to some putative allies (Manchin, Sinema, Tester, and Angus King) that judicial nomination votes are a big part of our calculus. Yes, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Lindsey Graham have voted for anti-Second Amendment nominees in the past and could vote for Biden’s pick to replace Breyer, but they also have a long record of voting for pro-Second Amendment judges as well. Manchin, King, Sinema, and Tester have no such mitigating factors in their record.
Third, this fight is always an opportunity to remind our fellow Americans of the importance of the Supreme Court, and to remind them of how anti-Second Amendment extremists are embracing “packing” the court with additional members. The Supreme Court is often not on people’s minds. It would be ideal if so much didn’t ride on it, but we are living in times in which the Supreme Court is needed to strike down anti-Second Amendment laws.
Second Amendment supporters may not succeed in getting a pro-Second Amendment justice to replace Stephen Breyer. They may not even stop an extreme anti-Second Amendment justice from being confirmed. However, it is a good chance to point out to fellow Americans the consequences of failing to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local levels in the 2022 midterms.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
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