Sotomayor Takes Axe to Second Amendment

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"Gun Owners of America" <Gun_Owners_of_America@capwiz.mailmanager.net>
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Sotomayor Takes Axe to Second Amendment
-- Won't answer whether she believes there's a right to self-defense

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The U.S. Senate must vote NO on Judge Sonia Sotomayor!

In defending her decision that the states could enact any form of gun control they wished -- with absolutely no regard to the Second Amendment -- Judge Sonya Sotomayor has developed a new love for Nineteenth Century court opinions.

Demonstrating that she was programmed in her responses, Sotomayor defended one of her earlier legal opinions by citing "footnote 23" of Justice Antonin Scalia's opinion in the DC v. Heller case last year.

But, when pressed by questioner Orrin Hatch yesterday, Sotomayor could not recite the contents of that footnote or the holdings of the cases which it cited. As it turns out, the footnote on which Sotomayor claims to rely, cited -- without approval -- two Nineteenth Century cases which rejected the notion that the Second Amendment was 'incorporated' to apply to the states.

But those were also the days when the Supreme Court held that the rights protected in the First Amendment did not apply to the states. Apparently, Sotomayor wants to base her anti-gun philosophy on antiquated decisions from an era when the U.S. Supreme Court was spitting out racist decisions.

Her answers got even worse today when Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma asked her, point blank, "Is there a constitutional right to self-defense?" Sotomayor said that was an "abstract question" and that she couldn't think of a Supreme Court case that addressed that issue.

Coburn said he didn't want a legal treatise on what Supreme Court holdings have said, rather, he wanted her own personal opinion. Sotomayor would not answer the question, although when pressed, she equated self-defense with vigilantism!

Folks, do you see how important it is to stop this nomination? GOA mailed its members postcards opposing Sotomayor not too long ago. Please make sure you have mailed those in. We need a multi-pronged offensive right now where our Senators are receiving snail mail, email and phone calls.

And, we need ALL PRO-GUN ORGANIZATIONS to take a stance AGAINST this nominee.

Organizational spokesmen can talk a good game and say they have serious "concerns" about Sotomayor. That's all well and good. But unless those organizations (big and small) rate each Senator's vote on Sotomayor -- when she's clearly anti-gun -- then those supposed "concerns" are just meaningless.

Senators have to hear from ALL the pro-gun organizations -- big and small -- that they are going to rate this vote during the 2010 election. Otherwise, those organizations are just Paper Tigers.

We can't let this anti-gun judge infiltrate U.S. Supreme Court! She is dangerous on so many levels -- but, especially, on Second Amendment rights.

GOA considers her nomination to be of the most important gun votes in the HISTORY of the US Senate. We can't think of any other nominee in recent history who has taken such a horrid stand on the basic right of self-defense.

She says that she will follow the precedent in the DC v. Heller (2008) case. But even if she does, that only means that she will vote to apply the Second Amendment in Washington, DC. She has already ruled this year in Maloney v. Cuomo that the amendment doesn't apply to where you live.

-- Tim Macy, Vice-Chairman of Gun Owners of America

ACTION: We need to "pull out the stops" to defeat this nominee. Please contact your two U.S. Senators today and urge them to VOTE NO on Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Please use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

Even though President Obama is extremely anti-gun, I still started with an open mind regarding his nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. But after her testimony these past two days, there is no way that she should be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

When asked by Senator Tom Coburn if there was a right to self-defense, Sotomayor said that was an "abstract question." Sotomayor would not answer directly, although when pressed, she equated self-defense with vigilantism!

How can the Senate confirm a judge to the U.S. Supreme Court who does not believe in the rights that are EXPLICITLY stated in the Bill of Rights?

I also want you to know that Gun Owners of America will heavily score any vote related to the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor -- whether it's a vote on cloture or final passage -- for its rating in 2010.

Moreover, GOA is going to publish its rating so that millions of Americans can see how their Senators voted on this most important vote.

GOA has told me that it considers the Sotomayor nomination to be one of the most significant gun votes in the HISTORY of the US Senate, as there has been no other nominee in recent history who has taken such a horrid stand on the basic right of self-defense.

Sincerely,
---
If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please visit http://capwiz.com/gunowners/lmx/u/?j...eid=3648741386.

[LDBennett]

I viewed this portion of the proceedings live. What I got out of it is she will not even state her personal beliefs. Every response was in the terms of a judge ruling on a particular case. She never stated her personal opinion.

As for the right of self defense, again she tried to keep the robes on, so to speak, and would not make comment on generalities and only wanted to consider exact particulars relating to a case that she has seen or might see.

It appears to me that she will be no worse than the one she replaces and will not upset the balance of the court as we see it today. She appears to be reluctant to have her own opinions on anything related to the law, at least for now, or in these hearings. She will be the next Supreme Court Justice because the Democrats already have the votes. The best the Conservatives can do is to point out the problems of the law in regards to abortion, the definition of life, the rights of states to control guns and their usage, and a couple of other important topics that need better legal definitions (such as how the 14th Amendment can apply to abortions and not gun control). I'm no legal expert but it appears to me there are many missing Supreme Court decisions on several long term questions of life today and they need resolution sooner rather than later, one way or the other.

As I see it, the failure is not hers in regards to the Second Amendment (and abortion and....etc.) but that of the sitting and past sitting Supreme Courts in their reluctance to take on a case that answers once and for all if states have the authority (of the Constitution) to usurp the Second Amendment and take from the populace their right to bear arms and to self defense against eminent and immediate life threatening violence and other issues like abortion. These past courts have skirted this issue at every opportunity. Sotomayor relies heavily on precedent and on these issues she is forced to take the course dictated by earlier opinions and not on those opinions that have not come. I think she will not reveal her personal opinions on any of these issue until seated on the court, if even then.

So get use to it. She IS the next Supreme Court Justice whether we Conservatives like it or not! We probably should save our disagreement on a potential Supreme Court Justice to when it really matters, not now when regardless of our concerns, we can do nothing about it and this one appears to not be all that dangerous (YET??).

But this is my opinion and yours may differ.

LDBennett

[satellite66]

I think it matters now. She will probably get the nod but backing off won't help us. She is a radical liberal like the great reader thats why she was picked. I think she will be far worse.
Exposing the liberal agenda on every turn is what we need to do. Moderation and bipartisanship got us in this spot.
Her bigoted views need to be put out there no matter how much the media and lefties whine about it.

[jacksonco]

I do not care what her personal belief is regarding guns. She can hate them as far as I am concerned as long as she follows the Constitution and does not make bias decisions on its framework. She will be sworn in to uphold the Constitution not modify or spin it to a desirable political outcome.

Now if she is unable to do this she should take her self out of the proceedings (will never happen) or the lawmakers should deny her the judges chair in the highest of earthly courts (again it will never happen).

Since she will be the next judge on the court there is nothing that we can do about it but hope that she does not incorporate her personal beliefs into her decisions. Her decisions should be dictated by written law and not personal opinion.

[kingchip]

she will without a doubt, be confirmed. We just need to remind her that ANY negative ruling regarding the 2nd, will force us to pull out Roe V. Wade while we have the numbers.

[doug66]

They won, we lost, and this is what the majority of Americans want.

[alhefner]

Originally Posted by doug66

They won, we lost, and this is what the majority of Americans want.

The majority of Americans can't tell you who the vice president is! They can tell you exactly what is happening on the latest prime time talent show though.

[topper]

i have been following the confirmation hearing of sotomayor with some interest. this woman is dangerous. she skirts and evades issues and answers. even looking at her when she is talking scares me because she gives the impression she is lying through her teeth because of facial expressions. she seem to not have any concentration. she almost seems to have a smirk on her face that relates to telling eveyone she don't care about Q&A because she is going to be confirmed anyway despite what is said. odumma and all his 'henchman' have stacked the deck against the american people and we will be in for some real 'change' if sotomayor gets confirmed.





Keep both barrels loaded!

[Trouble 45-70]

But she says she is a wise Latina. She will wisely rule as she is told.

[Teejay9]

I know it stinks, but this is such a done deal, we can only chalk up another Liberal on the SC. The good news is that it only replaces another closet liberal, Judge Soutor (spelling?). With that confirmation panel, what would you expect? A "wise Latina" doesn't want kids running around with guns or sharp, pointed objects. If you say anything, you're a "racist" or a sexist. They aren't going to be a majority until Ruth Buzzi Ginsberg goes. THEN let's see what happens. We must all get into the spirit of "change," and get rid of theses doofusses and vote them out in 2010. Too bad MN, you're stuck with the very funny, cherub faced Al Franken (isn't he hilarious?) for 6 years. Just hold on and we'll all sort this out. The majority of Americans consider themselves somewhere in the middle near Conservative. They aren't going to like all the taxes and spending that goes everywhere else but back to us. We'll get them out!! TJ

[bcj1755]

Sotomayor sucks, just like Barry.