Cotton: Barrett Must Be Confirmed to Preserve Second Amendment Rights

But then a strange thing happened. Right after issuing the most consequential ruling for gun rights in decades [Heller], the Supreme Court went dark on the issue. The Court has failed to clarify what it means for gun ownership to be an individual right.

In fact, it hasn’t issued a ruling on guns in more than a decade. Just this year, the Court declined to hear appeals on 10 separate cases involving gun rights, including a case about whether we have a constitutional right to carry firearms outside our homes for self-defense.

The Court’s inaction has allowed dubious gun-control laws to stay on the books in many areas, while emboldening radical activists to press for new restrictions on our rights in lower courts. This led Justice Clarence Thomas to lament that the Court was allowing the Second Amendment to become a “constitutional orphan.”

Gun-rights supporters can be hopeful about the future, however, because President Trump has selected a rock-solid Supreme Court nominee in Judge Barrett.

Barrett proved at her confirmation hearings last week that she has all the legal acumen and charm of her mentor, Justice Scalia. She’s also equally as strong a conservative, with a firm commitment to interpreting the law as written, not as she or anyone else would like it to be. That includes the Second Amendment.

– Sen. Tom Cotton in Confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The Second Amendment is at stake