Anti-gun Nominee Narrowly Passes in Senate

confirmed

The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm another radical Obama nominee to the federal judiciary.

The U.S. Senate voted on Wednesday to confirm another radical Obama nominee to the federal judiciary.

John McConnell, a trial lawyer from Providence, Rhode Island, is a liberal, anti-gun activist who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to far left candidates like President Obama and his allies in Congress.

He also served for a time as treasurer of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee, raising the question of whether he could serve impartially on the federal bench.

McConnell backed Bill Bradley for president in 2000, citing the candidate’s strong support of gun control.  You may recall that in the Democratic primary, Bradley ran to the left of his opponent, Al Gore, and was especially vocal on his gun control platform—which included banning small handguns, limiting handgun purchases to one per month, and registering gun owners.

And in response to Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) questioning about the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights, McConnell was evasive and refused to declare that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual liberty.

There is little doubt that McConnell would have no problem ruling that any gun control law that falls short of a total gun ban would be constitutional—despite the Supreme Court rulings in Heller and McDonald.

The first vote on Wednesday was to end debate on the nominee, which required 60 votes.  On that vote, 63 Senators supported “cloture,” including all Democrats and 11 Republicans.

On final confirmation, McConnell was confirmed only with Democrat support.  Interestingly, all eleven Republicans who voted to end the debate (with its 60-vote threshold), voted against McConnell on final passage.  In what amounts to straddling the fence, these Republicans can tell voters that they opposed the nominee.  But on the vote that really mattered, these Senators stood with Obama and Harry Reid.

The eleven Republicans are: Alexander (R-TN), Brown (R-MA), Chambliss (R-GA), Collins (R-ME), Graham (R-SC), Isakson (R-GA), Kirk (R-IL), McCain (R-AZ), Murkowski (R-AK), Snowe (R-ME), and Thune (R-SD).

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who faces a potentially tough primary against a conservative next year, voted “present” on cloture.

The President is filling the federal courts with judges who are extremely hostile to the Second Amendment, and he’s getting help along the way from many Senators who claim to be pro-Second Amendment.  Please take the action below to tell your Senators to stop compromising our Second Amendment rights.

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