| | *Dias, Elizabeth; Ember, Sydney (June 26, 2018). [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/us/politics/travel-ban-donald-trump.html Abortion and Travel Ban Rulings Are Victory for G.O.P. Tactics on Gorsuch]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved June 26, 2018.</ref> though ''Reason Magazine'''s analysis found that in his first full term, he positioned himself as slightly more liberal than even Justice Kennedy, the swing vote.<ref name="Reason"/> On June 26, 2017, Gorsuch joined a dissenting opinion by Justice [[Clarence Thomas]] opposing the Supreme Court's decision to reject hearing two cases in which [[gun rights]] groups appealed and which meant that anti-gun and -Second Amendment laws would prevail.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/26/justices-thomas-gorsuch-blast-court-decision-to-reject-gun-rights-appeal.html Justices Thomas, Gorsuch blast court decision to reject gun rights appeal]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved June 26, 2017.</ref><ref>Klukowski, Ken (June 26, 2017). [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/26/justices-thomas-and-gorsuch-supreme-court-should-take-more-second-amendment-cases/ Justices Thomas and Gorsuch: Supreme Court Should Take More Second Amendment Cases]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved June 27, 2017.</ref> The Court assigned Gorsuch to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.<ref>Lovelace, Ryan (June 27, 2017). [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/supreme-court-gives-neil-gorsuch-a-midwestern-circuit-in-new-assignments/article/2627193 Supreme Court gives Neil Gorsuch a Midwestern circuit in new assignments]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved June 27, 2017.</ref> | | *Dias, Elizabeth; Ember, Sydney (June 26, 2018). [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/26/us/politics/travel-ban-donald-trump.html Abortion and Travel Ban Rulings Are Victory for G.O.P. Tactics on Gorsuch]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved June 26, 2018.</ref> though ''Reason Magazine'''s analysis found that in his first full term, he positioned himself as slightly more liberal than even Justice Kennedy, the swing vote.<ref name="Reason"/> On June 26, 2017, Gorsuch joined a dissenting opinion by Justice [[Clarence Thomas]] opposing the Supreme Court's decision to reject hearing two cases in which [[gun rights]] groups appealed and which meant that anti-gun and -Second Amendment laws would prevail.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/26/justices-thomas-gorsuch-blast-court-decision-to-reject-gun-rights-appeal.html Justices Thomas, Gorsuch blast court decision to reject gun rights appeal]. ''Fox News''. Retrieved June 26, 2017.</ref><ref>Klukowski, Ken (June 26, 2017). [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/26/justices-thomas-and-gorsuch-supreme-court-should-take-more-second-amendment-cases/ Justices Thomas and Gorsuch: Supreme Court Should Take More Second Amendment Cases]. ''Breitbart News''. Retrieved June 27, 2017.</ref> The Court assigned Gorsuch to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.<ref>Lovelace, Ryan (June 27, 2017). [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/supreme-court-gives-neil-gorsuch-a-midwestern-circuit-in-new-assignments/article/2627193 Supreme Court gives Neil Gorsuch a Midwestern circuit in new assignments]. ''Washington Examiner''. Retrieved June 27, 2017.</ref> |
| − | On subsequent [[Second Amendment]] [[Certiorari|petitions for cert]], however, Gorsuch sided with the [[liberal]] wing of the Court in denying cert and thereby allowing anti-[[Second Amendment]] appellate rulings to stand. | + | On subsequent [[Second Amendment]] [[Certiorari|petitions for cert]], however, Gorsuch sided with the [[liberal]] wing of the Court in denying cert and thereby allowing anti-[[Second Amendment]] appellate rulings to stand. For example, on Feb. 20, 2018, Gorsuch refused to join a dissent by Justice [[Clarence Thomas|Thomas]] which sought to invalidate a 10-day waiting period [[gun control]] law in [[California]]:<ref>''Silvester v. Becerra'', 138 S. Ct. 945, 945 (2018).</ref> |
| | + | {{cquote|The Second Amendment protects “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,” and the Fourteenth Amendment requires the States to respect that right, McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U. S. 742, 749-750, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 177 L. Ed. 2d 894 (2010) (plurality opinion); id., at 805, 130 S. Ct. 3020, 177 L. Ed. 2d 894 (Thomas, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Because the right to keep and bear arms is enumerated in the Constitution, courts cannot subject laws that burden it to mere rational-basis review. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570, 628, n. 27, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637 (2008). |
| | + | But the decision below did just that. Purporting to apply intermediate scrutiny, the Court of Appeals upheld California’s 10-day waiting period for firearms based solely on its own “common sense.” Silvester v. Harris, 843 F. 3d 816, 828 (CA9 2016). It did so without requiring California to submit relevant evidence, without addressing petitioners’ arguments to the contrary, and without acknowledging the District Court’s factual findings. This deferential analysis was indistinguishable from rational-basis review. And it is symptomatic of the lower courts’ general failure to afford the Second Amendment the respect due an enumerated constitutional right.}} |
| | On April 17, 2018, Gorusch joined the [[liberal]] wing of the [[U.S. Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] by casting the deciding vote against [[deportation]] of an [[illegal alien]] who broke the law, and thereby invalidated a key part of [[immigration]] law. | | On April 17, 2018, Gorusch joined the [[liberal]] wing of the [[U.S. Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] by casting the deciding vote against [[deportation]] of an [[illegal alien]] who broke the law, and thereby invalidated a key part of [[immigration]] law. |