By Dave Workman | Editor-in-Chief
The term “elections matter” was just vividly underscored with the 52-48 near party-line confirmation Monday evening of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Had it not been for Republican control of the Senate, and the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president, the Supreme Court would not now have a solid conservative majority, which could have long-term ramifications for gun rights and Second Amendment litigation.
Barrett was sworn in by Associated Justice Clarence Thomas during an event at the White House, and Chief Justice John Roberts will administer her judicial oath Tuesday.
As noted by Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, “We have truly witnessed history in the making, and we are confident her confirmation cements President Donald Trump’s fulfillment of his campaign pledge four years ago to bring balance to the federal courts.”
Likewise, National Shooting Sports Foundation Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane observed, “Justice Barrett’s service will reaffirm the importance of originalist jurists when protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. The firearm industry is grateful for the resolute foresight of President Donald Trump to nominate such a qualified jurist to serve on the bench.”
But Democrats are fuming.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) made a not-so-veiled threat to his Republican colleagues, declaring, “The fact is that our Republican colleagues are shattering the norms and breaking the rules and breaking their word, and there will be consequences. There inevitably are consequences when one person breaks his or her word to another.”
Career anti-gun Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) was equally threatening, stating “The Republican majority is lighting its credibility on fire … The next time the American people give Democrats a majority in this chamber, you will have forfeited the right to tell us how to run that majority.”
That statement may add fuel to the push by conservatives and especially gun owners to get out the vote to retain the Senate and the White House Nov. 3. It also reveals Schumer’s short memory, because Democrats rammed through Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which is up for review in a case the Supreme Court—with Associate Justice Barrett on board—next month. Schumer and his colleagues were fearful that Barrett’s confirmation could lead to the undoing of “Obamacare,” which the Far Left is determined to protect as the legacy of Obama’s presidency.
But it may be Trump who enjoys the more lasting legacy, having now placed three constitutional conservatives on the high court, and filling more than 250 lower federal court vacancies with conservative judges. He promised in 2016 that he would bring balance to the federal court system, and he has kept that promise.
The last president to fill three Supreme Court vacancies was Ronald Reagan.
Anti-gun Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told MSNBC, “We’ve got to have a wide-open conversation about how do we rebalance our courts. Yes, the two Supreme Court cases that have been stolen, where these processes that are just wildly hypocritical have been used to jam through partisan nominees. But we’ve got to look at our federal courts as a whole.”
Coons’ remark about “rebalancing” the courts is odd after Trump’s appointments have actually brought some semblance of balance to a court system that was, prior to his arrival, tilting farther left. It has been Trump’s appointments that have restored balance, many contend, while previously Democrats have allegedly used the federal courts legislate from the bench.
SAF’s Gottlieb was jubilant, observing, “The confirmation of Judge Barrett will help make the Second Amendment great again… We now have an opportunity to restore the Second Amendment and reverse decades of increasingly restrictive gun control laws that have eroded the right to keep and bear arms.”
There are some new Second Amendment cases climbing through the federal courts, and they could wind up before the high court, which now doesn’t need to worry about which side Chief Justice Roberts might take, as he is no longer the powerful “swing vote.”
Justice Barrett offered a few remarks after taking her oath of office.
“The oath that I have solemnly taken tonight means at its core I will do the job without fear or favor and do it independently of the political branches and of my own preferences,” she said, according to the National Post.
