President Barack Obama’s selection yesterday of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left open after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month is drawing criticism from the National Rifle Association.
“With Justice Scalia’s tragic passing, there is no longer a majority of support among the justices for the fundamental, individual right to own a firearm for self-defense,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “Four justices believe law-abiding Americans have that right—and four justices do not.”
With that in mind, Cox said the president’s appointment of Garland, who has sided with gun-control advocates in some past Second Amendment cases, is a bad choice.
“President Obama has nothing but contempt for the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners,” Cox said. “Obama has already nominated two Supreme Court justices who oppose the right to own firearms, and there is absolutely no reason to think he has changed his approach this time. In fact, a basic analysis of Merrick Garland’s judicial record shows that he does not respect our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Therefore, the National Rifle Association, on behalf of our 5 million members and tens of millions of supporters across the country, strongly opposes the nomination of Merrick Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court.”
