On April 7 the NRA made clear Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) can count on facing an advertising onslaught during his re-election campaign because of his decision to vote against the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch.
Tester is one of the red state Democrats whom the NRA put on notice prior to the confirmation vote. On March 23 Breitbart News reported NRA warnings that red state Democrats voting against Gorsuch would not only find themselves campaigning against a Republican challenger for re-election but against the NRA as well. Tester can now count on the NRA opposition.
Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme Court on April 7 by a vote of 54 to 45. He is broadly viewed as a justice who is “very much in the mold of Justice Scalia.” Throughout his confirmation hearings Gorsuch stood firm on the crucial District of Columbia v Heller (2008) decision, telling Senate Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), “Whatever is in Heller is the law and I follow the law.”
Yet Tester voted against Gorsuch. And the NRA is making the case that Tester voted against protecting the Second Amendment rights of Montanans in the process.
On April 7 the NRA tweeted:
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.