April 8, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) to stand by the 2nd Amendment and reject President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland:
“The decisions that these four Democrat Senators make will likely define their legacies in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Justice who replaces Antonin Scalia will determine the balance of power on the Court, and there are no do-overs. President Obama has waged a determined and largely failed campaign against the individual right to keep and bear arms due to the Supreme Court’s seminal D.C. v. Heller decision that affirmed that the Second Amendment is indeed a protection of those individual rights. The Garland appointment is Obama’s lame duck last chance to overturn Heller and impose some strange collective construct to the clear words written into the Constitution as a primary protection against abusive government that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’
“Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, Joe Donnelly and Michael Bennet will not face any other decision more important than the one confronting them with this Obama nominee. There will be no hiding behind press statements decrying Court rulings if they vote to confirm Obama’s choice, rather than allowing the upcoming Presidential election to decide the future direction of the Supreme Court and indeed the nation as a whole. Americans for Limited Government urges Heitkamp, Manchin, Donnelly and Bennet to send a strong message to the entire country that our individual rights are not political play things, that Heller is the law of the land, and that they support allowing the people decide through their votes, the future direction of our nation.”
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.
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