By Rick Manning — Joe Biden got one thing right in his debate with Paul Ryan – the next four years are likely to bring multiple picks to the Supreme Court of the United States and the implications have never been more important for Pennsylvanians who support gun rights.
Anyone paying attention to the past four years know that Obama will not be appointing Justices who support the Second Amendment. The question for Pennsylvanians is whether they trust Senator Bob Casey to say no to Obama’s picks who will promise open-mindedness but will vote along with two other Casey supported Justices – Sotomayor and Kagan – against the individual right to bear arms.
Politicians will promise to support what they think gun owners want. They might even occasionally vote that way.
But in the wake of the groundbreaking Heller decision, which affirmed that the Second Amendment does indeed protect the individual right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens, the next generation of Supreme Court justices have become even more important.
The dangerous truth is that four justices, including Sotomayor, voted against Heller, and there is no evidence that Kagan would do otherwise. If Obama is re-elected, it will be up to your U.S. Senator to choose whether to vote to confirm the next Justice who very well might have the deciding vote in the next gun rights case.
Bob Casey has voted twice for anti-gun justices under the promise that they would be open-minded. After being zero for two in protecting your rights in the most important votes he will ever make on gun rights, can you trust him to get it right if given a third, fourth or fifth try?
The Second Amendment protections for you, your children and future generations are at the mercy of nine people in robes sitting in Washington, D.C. Politicians will tell gun owners what they want to hear, but only one person up for election to the Senate has a history of voting on Justices with a record on whether you have an individual right to keep and bear arms.
That person, Bob Casey, has failed the test repeatedly. The question is will Pennsylvanian’s hold Casey accountable for these votes?
The gun rights of an entire nation may just hinge on their choice.
Rick Manning is the communications director of Americans for Limited Government, and was an National Rifle Association state liaison for nine years.
