Trump 'Ashamed' of Supreme Court as Second Amendment Case Looms
Former President Donald Trump isn't entirely confident in the Supreme Court to rule in favor of the Second Amendment because they failed to take up his election fraud claims.
The Supreme Court announced on Monday it would consider the scope of the Second Amendment as it regards a New York law prohibiting a person from carrying a concealed firearm in public. The makeup of the court has shifted from last year, when they dismissed a case challenging another New York gun law, but even with the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Trump is unsure how it will rule.
His uncertainty seems to be being fueled by his still bitter feelings over the 2020 presidential election. He told Dan Bongino on his podcast, The Dan Bongino Show, that his three appointees not coming through on the election case was a "disgrace" and called the justices "gutless."
"A lot of people are ashamed of the U.S. Supreme Court, and I happen to be one of them," Trump told Bongino. "Let's see how this ruling turns out."
The Supreme Court has shied away from Second Amendment cases but agreed to hear a case that plaintiffs argue make it "virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen" to get a concealed handgun license in New York. Under the law, a resident may only carry a concealed handgun if they can demonstrate a special need for it beyond a general want for self-defense.
"Imagine someone carrying a gun through Times Square, onto the subway, or to a tailgate outside of a Bills game," Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "The streets of New York are not the O.K. Corral, and the NRA's dream of a society where everyone is terrified of each other and armed to the teeth is abhorrent to our values."
The issue of the Second Amendment is a contentious one in America and several justices have pushed the court to take a stand. Justice Clarence Thomas criticized his colleagues for not prioritizing the issue of the right to keep and bear arms and he, along with Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, said the court should have decided a case last year.
In April 2020, the court tossed out a case challenging a New York City law that prohibited firearm owners from transporting weapons to shooting ranges or second homes outside city limits. Since the city repealed the law, the court rendered the case moot, but Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch said they should have found it unconstitutional.
At the time, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, also a Trump appointee, urged the court to address larger Second Amendment issues. Assuming there are no changes to the makeup of the court between now and the fall, when the court hears the case, conservatives will have a 6-3 majority.
Democrats targeted Barrett for her record on gun rights and during her confirmation hearings, she declined to comment on how she would rule, as is customary for a nominee. If a case came before her, she told the Senate she would "look very carefully at the text" to determine "what the original meaning was."
"Judges can't just wake up one day and say, 'I have an agenda. I like guns. I hate guns…' and walk in like a royal queen and impose their will on the world," Barrett said.
Trump told Bongino he was "great" for the Second Amendment and that had he not been president, it would have been "wiped out" because of the "tremendous pressure to obliterate" it.
