Sotomayor started with her usual answer that judges don't make law. And she noted that the federal government and many states have laws restricting guns, such as possession of firearms by felons. Then the sparing got more interesting.

“Do I have a right to personal self-defense?” Coburn asked.

Sotomayor: “That's an abstract question.” Read more

Source: yahoo news

Source: Gun Owners of America

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.

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

“I will be talking [to Judge Sotomayor] about the question of
foreign law and the question of [her] commitment to the Second
Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms….  President Obama, who
nominated Judge Sotomayor, has a rather limited view of what the Second
Amendment guarantees.” — Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), June 2009

Monday, July 13, 2009

In many ways, Sotomayor's views are out-of-step with our American
heritage and with the views of Americans in general.  For example,
Sotomayor believes that our fundamental law is constantly evolving and
that rights are constantly changing with the times.

But should we be surprised?  The President who nominated her holds some
of the most radical views ever held by a resident of the White House.
His take on the Constitution — and the Second Amendment in particular
— has stationed him to the far left on the political spectrum.

Consider just a small snapshot of his record over the years:

* As President, Obama has nationalized much of the car and banking
industry and is now looking to do the same with health care.  Even the
Marxist President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, joked on live television
last month that he and Fidel Castro need to be careful or else “we
are going to end up to [Obama's] right.”

* As a U.S. Senator, Obama was ranked by the National Journal in 2007
as the most liberal legislator in that chamber.  Realize that such a
ranking put Obama to the left of 99 other Senators — including an
open, self-avowed socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

* Like many socialists, Obama has supported some of the most extreme
positions on gun control:  supporting a ban on handguns, opposing the
repeal of the draconian DC gun ban, opposing the right of self-defense
for residents in the Chicago suburbs, and much more.

Obama's brand of far-left politics sees the Constitution as moldable as
a ball of wax.  In a 2001 interview, he criticized earlier Supreme
Courts for “never ventur[ing] into the issues of redistribution of
wealth….  It didn't break free from the essential constraints that
were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.”

Sotomayor appears to have the same view of our highest document, as she
stated in 1996 that law is not “static and predictable,” but
“constantly overhaul[ed] and adapt[ed] [by lawyers and courts] to
the realities of ever-changing social, industrial and political
conditions.”

ACTION:  Please urge your two Senators to vote AGAINST the Sotomayor
nomination.  Tell them to cast a pro-gun vote on EVERY vote related to
Judge Sonia Sotomayor (whether it's a vote on sustaining a filibuster
or a vote on final passage).

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

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's views are out-of-step with our American
heritage and with the views of Americans in general.  Not surprisingly,
the Rasmussen polling firm reported on July 1 that more Americans
oppose her nomination than support her.

Sotomayor believes that our fundamental law is constantly evolving and
that rights are constantly changing with the times.  But a majority of
Americans disagree.  Multiple polls have found that almost
three-fourths of all Americans believe that the Second Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution protects the rights of “individuals” to own
guns.  Not so for Judge Sotomayor:

* She ruled in United States v. Sanchez-Villar (2004) that “the
right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”

* And earlier this year, Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel
which ruled in Maloney v. Cuomo that the Second Amendment does not
apply to the states.  This makes her more liberal than the Ninth
Circuit, which stated in the Nordyke case in April that the Second
Amendment does apply to the states.

Please cast a pro-gun vote on EVERY vote related to Judge Sonia
Sotomayor (whether it's a vote on sustaining a filibuster or a vote on
final passage).

I would like to hear back from you on this.  Although rest assured, Gun
Owners of America will keep me up to date on any further developments.

Sincerely,
—

Gun Digest Gun Rights Forum »

Last week Gun Owners of America reported that NRA's Past President Sandy Froman was calling on all NRA members to vigorously oppose the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

She did this in response to the “wait and see” approach that the NRA's upper management  has taken in regard to the Sotomayor nomination — an approach that may well allow her to wiggle through and be confirmed.

Yesterday, Sandy Froman struck again. But this time she was joined
with another past president of the NRA and several current Board
members, as well.

“Judge Sotomayor's record on the Second Amendment causes us grave
concern over her treatment of this enumerated right [to keep and
bear arms],” the coalition stated.

“As Second Amendment leaders deeply concerned about preserving all
fundamental rights for current and future generations of Americans,
we strongly oppose this nominee, and urge the Senate not to confirm
Judge Sotomayor.”

In related news, the NRA sent a letter yesterday to the Senate
Judiciary committee expressing “very serious concerns” over the
Sotomayor nomination, but said that the leadership “has not
announced an official position” out of respect for the confirmation
process. The letter indicated the NRA's management would be
watching the upcoming hearings very carefully.

One of the concerns about the hearing process, however, is that
Sotomayor will act exactly the same way Obama has. You will remember
that Obama tried to play himself off as a supporter of gun rights
during the presidential campaign, but then once he took office, began
showing his true colors.

Obama has nominated far-left gun banners to key positions of power —
including Attorney General Eric Holder, State Department counsel
Harold Koh and Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

It's not uncommon to see politicians tout the Bill of Rights when
trying to get elected or confirmed, but then act like a modern day
Benedict Arnold once they are safely entrenched.

If Judge Sotomayor is anything like the man who nominated her, she
will tell Senators what they want to hear during the Senate
proceedings, but then stab us in the back once she has secured a
lifetime appointment to the bench.

Folks, this is a huge battle. And that's why it's important to
have every single gun organization firing all of its political
ammunition. This is a battle that we can win. So even though we
already asked you to contact the NRA's management last week, it is
imperative that they hear from you again.

ACTION: Please urge the NRA's upper management to tell Senators
that a vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor is an anti-gun vote. You
can use the text message below — addressed to NRA Executive Vice
President Wayne LaPierre and NRA Executive Director Chris Cox —
to help direct your comments to the NRA.

CONTACT INFO for the NRA:

Phone (800) 392-8683
Webform https://secure.nraila.org/Contact.aspx

—– Pre-written comments —–

Dear Mr. LaPierre and Mr. Cox:

I was so excited to see that past NRA President Sandy Froman — in
coalition with several other past and present NRA leaders — came
out in opposition the nomination of Judge Sotomayor.

In a letter dated July 7, the coalition stated that “we strongly
oppose this nominee, and urge the Senate not to confirm Judge
Sotomayor.”

This is Froman's second communication in this regard, as she stepped
up to the plate on June 24 with a call to arms for all NRA members
to vigorously oppose the Sotomayor nomination.

“Gun owners, and especially the members of the National Rifle
Association,” Froman said, “must aggressively oppose Judge
Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court.”

I couldn't agree more with Mrs. Froman.

I hope that the NRA will officially tell Senators now — and not wait
until after the hearings — that a vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor
is an anti-gun vote. Please let me know what you intend to do.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Source: gunowners.org

Gun Digest Gun Rights Forum »