Kavanaugh Pick as Supreme Court Justice Receives Universal Support from Gun Groups

Trump’s Second SCOTUS Nominee Garners Wide Support from RKBA Organizations: NRA, SAF, GOA, NSSF

Just over a year after Justice Neil Gorsuch was confirmed to fill the late Antonin Scalia’s seat on the United States Supreme Court, President Trump has tapped the second SCOTUS nominee of his first term.

President Trump’s has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to succeed Anthony Kennedy, who has sat on the court since being nominated by Ronald Reagan and confirmed in 1988.  Since his July 9th nomination, Kavanaugh has received universal support from major gun rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Gun Owners of America (GOA), and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

In their statement, the NRA said that “President Trump has made another outstanding choice in nominating Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court. He has an impressive record that demonstrates his strong support for the Second Amendment.” The statement also referenced Kavanaugh’s strong dissenting opinion in opposition to Washington, D.C.’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic firearms and their registration requirement which, consistent with Justice Scalia’s opinion in Heller.  NRA’s Chris Cox continued, “Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated his clear belief that the Constitution should be applied as the Framers intended.”

In a separate statement, NRA said that “Judge Brett Kavanaugh has earned NRA members’ support.” In this statement, the gun-rights organization goes into additional details on the nominee’s Second Amendment history.

Second Amendment Foundation

SAF likewise applauded Kavanaugh’s nomination for the SCOTUS seat, saying “We’re encouraged by this nomination because by adding Judge Kavanaugh, we might see the high court become more willing to accept and rule on important Second Amendment issues, such as right-to-carry.” Second Amendment Founder and Executive VP, Alan Gottlieb, noted that “the Supreme Court has twice affirmed in the last ten years that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental, individual right to keep a firearm for home defense, but the court has yet to even begin defining the right to bear arms outside of the home or business, in public.”  Gottlieb says that he hopes that Kavanaugh’s nomination would be “quickly affirmed by the Senate.”

On the topic of Senate confirmation, one potential hold-out that may have stymied Kavanaugh’s progress to Kennedy’s vacant SCOTUS seat, Rand Paul, yesterday got on board with the President’s nomination, saying that “his strong defenses of the First and Second Amendments in landmark cases show someone who isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo and will fight with backbone.” Paul concluded, “Judge Kavanaugh will have my support and my vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.”  

GOA Executive Director, Erich Pratt, issued the following statement: “Gun Owners of America is optimistic that Judge Brett Kavanaugh will be a huge improvement over the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on many constitutional issues, including the Second Amendment.”  Pratt noted not only Kavanaugh’s pro-gun dissent in Heller II, but also another case in which he “correctly interpreted the Firearm Owners Protection Act.”  The Second Amendment organization’s statement not only expressed that they are hopeful for Senate confirmation of Kavanaugh, but also that the Supreme Court will take on more Second Amendment cases to give the pro-Constitution Justices more opportunity to decide cases that will hopefully repeal “the onerous and unconstitutional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms that exist throughout the country.

While not strictly a Second Amendment rights advocacy group, the firearms industry trade association, National Shooting Sports Foundation – the group behind the industry’s massive annual SHOT Show – also issued a statement in support of Kavanaugh’s nomination. “We are pleased to lend our support to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and urge the Senate to approve his nomination before the next term begins on the first Monday in October,” said Lawrence Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. Keane continued, “we are confident that Judge Kavanaugh will serve our nation with distinction as an Associate Justice of our nation’s highest court and that he will make decisions that will serve to protect the Second Amendment and other Constitutionally guaranteed rights of law-abiding Americans.

After serving as White House Staff Secretary under President Bush 43, Kavanaugh was originally nominated to the Court of Appeals in 2003. His confirmation hearings were contentious and stalled for three years over charges of partisanship before eventually being confirmed in May 2006. With wide pro-RKBA support behind him, we also hope that Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation proceeds swiftly. Click here to contact your senator to support his confirmation.

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