Sotomayor Receives Armed Protection, Contrasts with Her Gun Control Views

(LibertySociety.com) – Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is facing criticism that her views on gun control contrast with her having armed protection after a shooting involving two armed guards on her security team.

The criticism comes after two armed U.S. Marshals on her protection detail shot a would-be carjacker outside her home on July 5. The suspect, Kentrell Flowers, 18, was shot by the Marshals after he attempted to carjack them, pointing a gun at them through the driver-side window of their unmarked vehicle. Flowers, arrested at the hospital, is facing charges of possessing a large-capacity ammunition feeding device, carrying a pistol without a license, and armed carjacking.

In the 2010 case, McDonald v. Chicago, she joined the dissenting opinion that rejected “a private right of armed self-defense.” In the 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment allows individuals the right to own a gun. The two dissents were written by then-Justice John Paul Stevens and then-Justice Stephen Breyer, whose dissent was joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sotomayor.

Her position against the Second Amendment was also seen when she joined an opinion in 2009 with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that stated the Second Amendment rights do not apply to the states. Earlier this year, she also wrote the dissenting opinion regarding the ban on the firearm accessory known as bump stocks being found unconstitutional.

Sotomayor, who was nominated to the Supreme Court by former President Barack Obama, was immediately criticized for her opinions about private citizens owning guns on social media.

“Thank God for the Second Amendment,” one user wrote on Twitter.

The Twitter account, Libs of TikTok, said that Sotomayor’s security detail shot a would-be carjacker while she believes private citizens do not have the right to armed self-defense, writing, “Rules for thee and not for me.”

Another user wrote something similar in response to the incident, “‘Guns for me, not for thee.’ – Sotomayor.”