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Justice Alito speaks to FedSoc on the 2A

Transcript here.

"Of course, the ultimate second tier constitutional right in the minds of some is the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. From 2010. When we decided McDonald vs. Chicago until last term, the supreme court denied every single petition asking us to review a lower court decision that rejected the Second Amendment claim. Last year, we finally took another second amendment case. And what happened after that is interesting.

The case involved a new york city ordinance....

Five United States senators who filed a brief in support of the city went further. They wrote that the Supreme Court is a sick institution, and that if the court did not mend its ways, well, it might have to be quote, restructured.

Afterwards receiving this warning, the court did exactly what the city and the senators wanted. It held that the case was moot. And it said nothing about the Second Amendment.

Three of us protested, but to no avail. Now, let me be clear, again, I'm not suggesting that the court's decision was influenced by the senators' threat. But I am concerned that the outcome might be viewed that way by the senators and others with thoughts of bullying the court.

This little episode, I'm afraid may provide a foretaste of what the Supreme Court will face in the future. And therefore, I don't think it can simply be brushed aside. The senators brief was extraordinary. I could say something about standards of professional conduct. But the brief involved something even more important. It was an affront to the Constitution and the rule of law."