Law & Order

CNN: Barrett Says She Owns A Gun, But Could Fairly Judge A Case On Gun Rights

Report

President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court says her family owns a gun and that she thinks she can fairly judge a guns case. Asked by Senate Judiciary chairman Senator Lindsey Graham if she owns a gun, Barrett replied, “we do own a gun”.

The Supreme Court has gone a decade without acting on a major case concerning the Second Amendment, an issue that could receive rare attention in the future by the high court should Judge Amy Coney Barrett be confirmed to the bench in the coming weeks.

The court has resisted taking up a significant Second Amendment case since the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller – which held that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm – and a 2010 follow-up, turning away 10 gun rights cases in the last term alone.

Should the Senate confirm Barrett, who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, she could provide the extra vote Justice Clarence Thomas has been advocating for to take up Second Amendment cases.

Here’s how that exchange went:

Graham: Okay. So when it comes to your personal views about this topic, do you own a gun?

Barrett: We do own a gun.

Graham: Okay. All right. Do you think you could fairly decide a case even though you own a gun?

Barrett: Yes.