— Full Senate to vote on her nomination soon

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

It was nearly a party-line vote.  While every Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor today, almost every Republican voted against her… all except for turncoat Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Apparently, the flighty Republican did not care that Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated an extreme anti-gun bias in her private and public life.  Not only that, she has expressed racist views in multiple speeches over the years, and she has proven — in her actions and words — that she is committed to IGNORING THE CONSTITUTION!

The Sotomayor nomination now moves to the U.S. Senate floor, where gun owners definitely face an uphill battle.

Press reports have indicated that Sotomayor is giving Senators private assurances that she will follow Supreme Court precedents on the Second Amendment.  This is ridiculous, of course, but it doesn’t help that a liberal front group claiming to support the Second Amendment — the American Hunters and Shooters Association — is supporting Sotomayor, giving cover to wavering Democrats.

Politico.com reports that AHSA “will be highlighted as part of a rapid-fire response strategy Democrats plan to launch to respond to GOP attacks.”

The fact that AHSA endorsed Obama during the campaign should demonstrate that this group is nothing more than a Trojan horse.  That’s why we need Senators to know that gun owners consider a vote for Sotomayor to be one of the most ANTI-GUN votes they could ever cast and that front groups like AHSA don’t speak for you!

ACTION:  Please contact your two Senators and urge them to vote NO on Judge Sotomayor.  Tell them that the American Hunters and Shooters Association doesn’t speak for you.  Please use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

The confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be a horrible choice for Americans — not to mention the gun owners of this country.  Throughout her career, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has shown that she opposes the right to keep and bear arms, denies there is a constitutional right to self-defense, and frequently ignores constitutional and statutory precedents.

However, I understand that a front group called the American Hunters and Shooters Association is supporting Sotomayor, giving cover to wavering Senators.

Please understand that AHSA is NOT a pro-gun organization.  This organization shares many of the same goals as the Brady Campaign, and it is nothing more than a Trojan horse in the gun rights community.

After all, this is a group that according to records from 2005 had fewer than 150 dues paying individual members.  Its founding president, Ray Schoenke, donated money to the radical Handgun Control, Inc. — a group that argued in favor of the DC gun ban (which was struck down by the Supreme Court last year).  And another of its founding members, John Rosenthal, was also the founder of Stop Handgun Violence.

I am a proud supporter of Gun Owners of America, and they do speak for me and the gun rights community when they say that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is bad for the Constitution… bad for the Second Amendment… and bad for America.

Sincerely,