A new Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday says that a majority of likely voters believe that President-elect Donald Trump will move the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to the right, which is what a leading Second Amendment advocate is recommending in a new Op-Ed appearing today in the Tulsa World.
Today’s report also said that, heading into the election one month ago, 87 percent of Trump voters “said the high court should be guided by the Constitution and legal precedents, a view supported by 49 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters.” Some observers might draw significance from the fact that 38 percent more voters from the Trump camp think SCOTUS should be guided by the Constitution than those in Clinton’s corner.
According to Rasmussen, 39 percent of survey respondents think Trump’s picks for the high court will be “too conservative,” while 42 percent think his choices will be “about right politically.” By contrast, 43 percent felt Barack Obama’s selections would be “about right” while 42 percent felt his choices would be “too liberal.” Obama appointed Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, both anti-gunners, to the court. Trump will have to fill the vacancy left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, author of the 2008 Heller ruling on the Second Amendment.
By no small coincidence, a new Op-Ed piece under the co-bylines of Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, and this writer, encourages Trump to appoint strict constitutionalists to the SCOTUS. Both recently collaborated on their fifth book, “Right to Carry.”
That is among 11 suggestions offered in the piece, which also appeared in the Elko Daily last week. Other recommendations include backing out of the UN Arms Trade Treaty, allowing military personnel to carry concealed at domestic military installations and offices, legalize short-barreled rifles and silencers, and removing barriers that now block rights restoration efforts.
Today’s Rasmussen survey notes that 33 percent of voters think the high court is too liberal, and 24 percent think it is too conservative. Another 33 percent think it is “about right.”
Rasmussen said voters “put a lot of stock in the selection of the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.” That apparently was what brought a lot of voting gun owners to the polls. They were concerned that Clinton’s nominees would be selected on the basis of whether they might reverse the 2008 Heller and 2010 McDonald rulings that affirmed the Second Amendment protects an individuals civil right to keep and bear arms.
Related:
How Donald Trump Can Make The Second Amendment Great Again
Gun Activists Apprehensive About Petraeus for Cabinet Post
Why The Gun Sales Boom On Black Friday?
