Statement from Americans for Responsible Solutions and the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence on Nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to United States Supreme Court

January 31, 2017— Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, and its sister organization, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, today opposed President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court.

“Judge Gorsuch’s views are so outside the mainstream that he has gone out of his way to side with felons over public safety. His irresponsible record indicates he would actually weaken the gun laws on the books and does not reflect the values and priorities of the American people,” said Peter Ambler, Executive Director of Americans for Responsible Solutions. “Americans for Responsible Solutions supports the Second Amendment and the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and we demand a nominee who does the same. The American people want this too: in a survey of voters who voted in the 2016 election conducted by Morning Consult, only 10 percent want America’s gun laws to be less strong, including only 15 percent of Republicans. Judge Gorsuch prioritizes his political agenda over an open-minded, fair interpretation of the law and the safety of our communities, and we strongly oppose his nomination to the United States Supreme Court.”

“For anyone concerned with American public safety, the notion of Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court is a chilling prospect,” said Robyn Thomas, Executive Director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “In his time on the Tenth Circuit, he’s made repeated efforts to weaken the federal law that’s prohibited felons from possessing guns for the past 50 years, a law that has saved thousands of lives and enjoys near-unanimous support among Americans and elected officials on both sides of the aisle. Even Justice Scalia, arguably the most conservative Supreme Court justice in modern history, spoke out in favor of reasonable firearms regulation, including the prohibition on felons possessing guns. Gorsuch is such a radical choice that his presence on the court threatens to undermine half a century’s worth of firearms policy and to gravely jeopardize public safety. We have a responsibility to insist on a Supreme Court nominee who will not reject decades of Constitutional law in favor of his ideological agenda.”