FEATURE STORIES

ALITO MISLEADS COMMITTEE ON U.S. GUN LAWS
Janurary 10, 2006

In an exchange with Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Judge Samuel Alito, in defending his dissent in U.S. v. Rybar, 103 F.3d 273 (3rd Cir. 1996), mislead the Senate Judiciary Committee about the content and history of federal gun laws. In his Rybar opinion, Judge Alito wrote that the federal machine gun ban amounted to an unconstitutional exercise of Congressional power under the Commerce Clause.

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JUDGE ALITO REFUSES TO BACK DOWN FROM VIEW THAT FEDERAL MACHINE GUN BAN IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL
Janurary 12, 2006

Under questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Judge Alito today refused to back down from his dangerous dissent in U.S. v. Rybar, 103 F.3d 273 (3rd Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 807 (1997), in which he found that the federal machine gun ban is unconstitutional.

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STATEMENT OF DENNIS A. HENIGAN, DIRECTOR, LEGAL ACTION PROJECT, BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE SUBMITTED TO THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON THE NOMINATION OF SAMUEL A. ALITO, JR. TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
Janurary 19, 2006

The Brady Center strongly opposes the nomination of Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Brady Center does not take this position lightly. This is the first time the Brady Center has ever opposed a Supreme Court nomination.

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ALITO ENDS UP WITH MORE 'NO' VOTES THAN ALL BUT ONE CONFIRMED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

Although some Senators tried to stop the nomination of Judge Alito with a filibuster, that effort failed when the Senate voted to shut off debate by a vote of 72-25. The Senate then voted to confirm Judge Alito by a vote of 58-42. We must continue to watch the Supreme Court and future nominations very closely, since there are now several Justices who seem to support an activist approach to the 2nd Amendment and who question the power of Congress to enact strong gun laws. With the confirmation of Judge Alito, there is an increasing danger that the Court will reject longstanding precedent, strike down federal gun laws, and jeopardize public safety.