President Trump shaking the hand of Judge Neil Gorsuch (Photo: Atlantic)
President Trump announced last night his decision to nominate U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court to fill the empty seat left by the late Antonin Scalia.
Gorsuch has been praised by both the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation as a staunch ally in the fight to preserve Second Amendment rights.
“President Trump has made an outstanding choice in nominating Judge Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court, said Chris W. Cox, Executive Director of the NRA-ILA. “He has an impressive record that demonstrates his support for the Second Amendment. We urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, just as it did in confirming him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit by a unanimous voice vote.”
Gorsuch has big shoes to fill, but he is well-known for his ardent defense of originalism, an interpretive philosophy also held by Scalia and one that favors a pro-gun interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Originalists believe that the best way to interpret the Constitution is to go back to the framer’s original intent. When faced with a tough constitutional dilemma they ask, “What did the framers of the Constitution mean in this passage?”
When it comes to the Second Amendment, we know that the framers believed in the individual right to keep and bear arms. That’s what allowed them to win the War for Independence, and they knew, as George Mason said, that “to disarm the people… is the most effective way to enslave them.”
As an originalist, Gorsuch will defend the framers’ belief that the American people have a right to own and bear firearms to defend themselves and their liberties.
He did not have the opportunity to hear many Second Amendment cases in his time on the 10th Circuit Court, but one of his most important dissenting opinions included a defense of the Second Amendment.
In 2012 he argued in United States v. Games-Perez that a felon has to know he is a felon and that he possesses a gun to be convicted of a gun crime. “Gun possession is often lawful and sometimes even protected as a matter of constitutional right,” he said in his opinion.
In another opinion, as the NRA-ILA notes, Gorsuch reaffirmed his belief in the individual right to keep and bear arms: “the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own firearms and may not be infringed lightly,” he said.
Gorsuch was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit by President George W. Bush on May 10, 2006.
His background is filled with “sterling legal and academic credentials,” according to the Supreme Court of the United States Blog. He was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford, graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for prominent conservative judges, and was a high-ranking official in the Bush Justice Department before his judicial appointment.
Gorsuch is also relatively young for a Supreme Court justice (he will turn 50 this year), which would allow him to defend Second Amendment rights on the highest court in the land for at least the next generation.
There is no doubt that idiot Harold voted for the deranged idiot Hillary and all the obnoxious Dems that lost the election. Harold must be very closely associated with idiot Chucky Schumer who is one of the sorriest damn Dems to ever be a minority leader other than PELOSI. The true ROTTEN TO THE CORE attitude of Schumer will soon be obvious to both Republicans and Dems. The truth of the matter is that idiot Schumer has said he will make every effort to block the confirmation of any person (mostly Republicans) that have NOT been APPROVED by OBAMA. Can anyone think of someone who has a more perverse, devisive, disillusioned and hate minded attitude than the bastard Schumer? The Republicans need to accept the fact that idiot Schumer is a lost cause that cannot be reformed and do whatever is necessary to make sure he loses every damn effort he makes to screw the Republicans and make sure the Dems fully understand the true nature of the political situation. This also applies to Republicans who betray the Republican Party and are converted to the Dem mind set and vote for obnoxious Dem political illusions.
You narrow-minded gun nuts keep talking about preserving the 2nd amendment to own firearms. And that ALL citizens should have the right to bear arms. Does that include all those that have committed crimes and improper use of firearms and illegally selling firearms and explosives? There were 5711 gun incidents and sadly 23 Law Enforcement killed in 2016. As a gun owner, I support Gun Control for ALL Illegal persons, felons and NON-US Citizens to own a firearm. You’ll and the NRA DO NOT want No restriction of any kind to keep guns from Anyone. And with that stupid and ignorant thinking, you and I will never see in our lifetime a Conceal Gun License that will valid in ALL US States.
“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state” ????
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/second_amendment
I love all this BS by the Libtards trying to ‘interpret” what the Framers of the Constitution “meant” by the Second Amendment. It’s not a real tough subject to investigate, Thomas Jefferson did a lot more writing than just the Constitution. If anyone actually reads his other writings they can find the answer quickly enough. In a nutshell, the “People” should have weapons to protect themselves from our own government. There was significantly less crime back then, so self-defense was an afterthought. Yes, times change. With that change comes people who want to strip away the Rights of the People and give that power to Gov’t agencies. Our Forefathers were far smarter than we ever give them credit for, as well as almost prophetic in their understanding of people in general and in politics and gov’t specifically. Thank God for them.
The rediculous opposition to Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, is obviously and absolutely another DESTROY THE SECOND AMENDMENT effort by the idiot Schumer and the obnoxious Democrats such as, Hillary and Billy, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Bloomberg, Soros, Harry Reid, Healey, the \”fake news\” biased media, especially CNN, etc. Why do voters want to elect or support the Dems listed above? They cannot accept the results of a legal election. They will do or say anything to continue the Dem effort to destroy the Second Amendment. Does it make any sense?
Everyone, Republicans and Dems, who want to keep the Constitution, Supreme Court, and FREEDOM we have in the United States should support TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS and NOT SUPPORT OBNOXIOUS SCHUMER AND THE DEMS. SCHUMER IS ROTTEN TO THE CORE !!!!
Yes, the guy is pro-firearms. He also thinks that Corporations are people, not businesses. Check out this fellow’s rulings; the only good thing about him is that he is pro-Second Amendment. The rest….ugh. While he may be adequate under SCOTUS oversight, making him a part of SCOTUS would be a serious mistake.
And… He’s another East Coast Judge. How about a Justice from the far side of the Mississippi who practices law out where firearms are properly considered tools and nothing more? Why is it that a SCOTUS Justice HAS to be a graduate of an East coast College? We have some damn good Universities out here in the West.
Pick someone else, someone who comes from a Firearms using area, not some metro-conservative.
I agree with his United v. US case. Corporations should have a right to participate.
Judge Gorsuch was born and raised in Colorado. He is an avid hunter and sportsman. He currently serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Denver, CO.
Keep Draining the Swamp, Great Pick, save your other choices for later, when the three mentioned earlier, Ginsberg, Kagan and Sotomayor vacate.
The Obama appointees will probably be there a long time. Ginsberg should be in a rest home already but will probably still be doddering at the bench when she can’t find her chair without a geriatric nurse. That’s why it’s SO important to get a pro-2A justice in there. The rest of his politics be damned. FWIW though he’s East Coast educated Gorsuch is a 4th-generation Coloradan. He has roots there going back to the days when Colorado had tough self-reliant people who eked out a living in a place that was mostly giant rocks and treeless plains. It wasn’t always a purple state overpopulated with yuppies, potheads and hipsters playing ski bum. So, it’s just possible that maybe this guy has the right values.
Small Point – Please refrain from using the “pro gun” phrase in the future as it plays into the hands of the liberals. I suggest using “Pro 2nd Amendment” since that is what the fight is really about.
Yes, pro gun but anti worker, anti clean water and air. So, if we make low wagers, need to filter our water then what? I like the pro gun but we need $$$, water and air too.
Good point. People living under the 10th Circuit Court are paupers, have to filter their water, and breath Beijing air, and this will spread to the whole country if Judge Gorsuch is elected. I’d recommend sucking up more air right now, DS.
We need two or three carbon copies. Maybe Hardiman could replace the America-hating Ginsberg, 83, who has one foot in the grave. She’s been known to regularly drop off to sleep during hearings.
Wouldn’t hurt to look into the impeachment and replacement of Kagan and Sotomayor. Neither is qualified and they both rule based on their leftist, America-hating ideology and not the US Constitution.
QUOTE:
When it comes to the Second Amendment, we know that the framers believed in the individual right to keep and bear arms
Did you see ARMS or “guns”?
Arms means all military weapons, period. We have had our liberties stolen in the past by foolish, ignorant and yes, treasonous persons and institutions. It’s way past time to regain them
BATF is utterly unconstitutional.. disband it and all it’s functions, and restore our God given liberties
Awesome Pick, Trump! Keep up the good work. Maybe we will get a few more selections. We need to get this deck stacked on the conservative side while it’s possible. Stamp out this “liberal disease” !
And while we’re at it, stamp out the Ultra Cons too. What we need are Centrists, people who see both sides of the issue and choose a balanced and pragmatic response.