by Bob Barr | Sep 29, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerIn a March 2019 decision certain to spur furious badgering from Democrats when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month, federal Appeals Court Justice (and now Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee) Amy Coney Barrett showed herself to be not only a supporter of the Second Amendment, but a thoughtful and courageous one.Transactions involving firearms are among the most heavily regulated of all commercial and legal activities in the United States. It therefore is not unusual for a federal judge to issue rulings on one or more matters involving the Second Amendment during their tenure.In the case of Justice Barrett, a decision by a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, on which she currently sits, illustrates the depth of her knowledge about the Second Amendment and of federal firearms laws. More important, her dissent in the case of Rickey Kanter v. William Barr, shows that she is remarkably unafraid to go against conventional wisdom in order to apply an historically correct and common-sense based interpretation of both the Bill of Rights and federal gun laws.At issue in the Kanter case was the long-standing federal law that makes it a crime for anyone who has ever been convicted of a felony offense under either state or federal law to thereafter legally possess a gun. Although the federal ban does not kick in if the felony for which an individual has been convicted was for violating a federal antitrust law or similar trade-restraint provision, and while there is language in the law allowing for the person to apply to have their rights restored, in every practical way, short of...
by Bob Barr | Sep 23, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.comIn every life there comes a moment of “clarity,” in which a decision must be made to stand up and do the right thing, or fold and take the easy way out. For Senate Republicans, that moment is staring them in the face. If they cannot muster 50 votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Donald Trump, the “Grand Old Party” will no longer deserve being considered a “major” political party; it will have proved itself unworthy of the heritage bequeathed them by such true leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Far more important than the political fallout of such cowardice by a handful of GOP senators, however, will be the long-term damage to one of the most enduring and vital institutions undergirding our government – the Supreme Court of the United States, against which the Democrats have declared open warfare. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi no longer even pretend to camouflage what their intentions are. Should the Democrats win a majority in the Senate and also defeat Trump in the coming election, they will at once start the legislative process to expand the number of justices on the High Court (which has remained at nine for a century and a half). They also will move to change the rules according to which future judicial confirmations will be handled in the Senate. If Democrats succeed in these measures, they will all-but-guarantee the Republican Party will never again be able to ensure a “conservative” majority on the Court. The Democrat’s plan to pack the Court will be solidified if they are successful in achieving...
by Bob Barr | Sep 21, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily Caller It is easy to understand the fear in the minds of Democrat Party leaders prompted by President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell stating that they will in fact move forward to nominate and schedule a confirmation vote for a replacement for recently-deceased Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg. That fear has ignited a barrage of proposals that prove beyond doubt the Democrats will stop at nothing to deny Trump a third appointment to the Court and to deny Republicans any future opportunities. They will stop at nothing.It is by no means certain that McConnell could muster 50 votes to confirm Trump’s nominee, but if he does it would result in a potential 6-3 “conservative” majority on the High Court. This drives abject fear into the very core of the Democrat Party and the pro-abortion movement in this country. The possibility of a Supreme Court that might to even a tiny degree limit abortion rights is a danger to be opposed with every tool possible, regardless of how such actions might damage the Court, the Senate, or the Constitution itself.The irrationality and borderline idiocy of some of the statements by Democrat leaders is stunning, even by today’s loose standards. Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar declared that the Republicans “stole” the last appointment to the Court (the 2018 confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh) and that the GOP is now “trying to do it again.” Actually, all President Trump has said he intends to do is exercise his clear constitutional prerogative and submit a nominee to the Senate for its “advice and consent”; nothing more, nothing less, and hardly indicative of “stealing” anything.Democratic Hawaii...
