NRA comes out against Sotomayor nomination

WASHINGTON, July 16 (UPI) -- The National Rifle Association opposes Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, two NRA officials announced Thursday in Washington.

"We believe any individual who does not agree that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right ... should not serve on any court, much less the highest court in the land," Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, and Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Reform said in a joint statement.

Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sotomayor said she never ruled the Second Amendment doesn't guarantee a fundamental right. She said in the case the NRA is referring to she followed precedent about whether a federal statute applied to states, she didn't make any new rulings.

A full Senate vote could come before the August recess, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the ranking Republican on the committee said. Judiciary member Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said her judiciary record is mainstream. The Judiciary Committee finished questioning Sotomayor Thursday afternoon.