The three network newscasts have not been interested in alerting Americans to just what Hillary Clinton has in mind for the Second Amendment, should she become President. In a surprising twist, however, CBS This Morning on Wednesday actually had a serious discussion about her plans and leaked audio of the Democrat on guns.
Talking to Ted Olson, who has repeatedly argued before the Court, Norah O’Donnell reminded, “There is leaked audio of Hillary Clinton at a fund-raiser in which she said this. This came up at the debates. She said this: ‘The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment and I'm going to make that case every chance I get. So we will need your help on that.’"
The audio was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon in October of 2015. In the same event, Clinton warned, “I’m going to speak out, I’m going to do everything I can to rally people against this pernicious, corrupting influence of the NRA.”
After reading the quote, O’Donnell asked Olson:
NORAH O’DONNELL: That was about the Heller decision, of course, which for the first time affirmed an individual's right to bear arms at home. What does that mean to you when she said the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment?
Just having a discussion on Clinton’s ultimate plans for the Second Amendment is refreshing for network television. It’s also a shift for CBS. On October 7, Charlie Rose spun far-left, anti-gun Justice Stephen Breyer as a “pragmatist” and failed to investigate his dismissal of the Second Amendment as an individual right.
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In Wednesday's segment, Olson responded by saying, “If she means that, ‘I don't think there is an individual right under the Second Amendment.’ That would be quite significant.”
The discussion on CBS then turned to the age and makeup of the Supreme Court:
CHARLIE ROSE: Let me just ask this: There are eight members now. If, in fact, Hillary Clinton wins and she gets to appoint a new member because somebody either dies or retires, the two oldest members are liberal Democrats, aren't they not? Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. So she would be reappointing somebody that's already part of the liberal bloc.
A partial transcript of the segment is below:
CBS This Morning
10/26/16
8:09:28NORAH O’DONNELL: Can I ask you two about guns in America? There is leaked audio of Hillary Clinton at a fund-raiser in which she said this. This came up at the debates. She said this: “The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment and I'm going to make that case every chance I get. So we will need your help on that.” That was about the Heller decision, of course, which for the first time affirmed an individual’s right to bear arms at home. What does that mean to you when she said the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment? Ted?
TED OLSON: Well, I don't know exactly what that was in her mind when she said that. But if she means that, “I don't think there is an individual right under the Second Amendment.” That would be quite significant. Now, what the Supreme Court held is that there is an individual right that may be reasonably regulated by the states or by the legislatures. So with respect to the types of weapons, when you received a weapon, what kind of background check, those are all reasonable regulations that are permissible under that.
CHARLIE ROSE: Did Justice Scalia write that opinion?
OLSON: Yes.
ROSE: Let me just ask this: There are eight members now. If, in fact, Hillary Clinton wins and she gets to appoint a new member because somebody either dies or retires, the two oldest members are liberal Democrats, aren't they not? Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. So she would be reappointing somebody that’s already part of the liberal bloc.
OLSON: Well, conceivably. The three oldest members on the Supreme Court average 80 years of age and that includes Justice Kennedy.
ROSE: Right.
OLSON: And the last three that have left averaged 80 when they left the Court for one way or another. So, it's very likely there will be another vacancy. Now they do well. You know? It's a healthy environment over there in Supreme Court. They live quite long. David and I are never going to have that chance. But it prolongs your life. But there’s always — actuarially, there’s likelihood that there will be a vacancy in the second or third year.
