SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb
When the Second Amendment Foundation recently launched its “Black Robes Matter” effort calling attention to the number of vacancies on the federal courts that could be filled by President Donald Trump, it got the attention of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board.
The newspaper seemed to lament the fact that SAF and the National Rifle Association have both noted to gun owners that the federal courts could change complexion with Trump appointments. Heretofore liberal federal benches occupied by liberal activist judges might now become more balanced, with more than 100 vacancies for the president to fill.
SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb noted in a presentation about the Black Robes Matter effort that, “We must make sure that he nominates only people that will respect, preserve and expand our Second Amendment rights.”
Gottlieb estimated that Trump has an opportunity to appoint 38 percent of all judges on the federal bench.
Meanwhile, NRA’s Wayne LaPierre was also quoted, noting after the election that “More than 300 Obama-appointed anti-gun judges present an infection for which there is no cure, other than time and vigilance.”
The newspaper asserted that gun rights groups are engaged in a “thinly veiled attempt to stoke public fear” that is “little more than a cynical marketing ploy to boost sagging (gun and ammunition) sales by creating controversy where none exists.”
Gun rights activists counter that what the organizations are really doing is fighting to roll back decades of anti-gun legislation and activist court actions.
