Groups dedicated to combatting gun violence groups issued statements lamenting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, which they said will lead to the Supreme Court’s drifting further in the direction of the pro-gun lobby.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, named for former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was herself a victim of gun violence, said Kavanaugh’s ascension to the court is “indefensible” considering what that group called his “extreme positions on the Second Amendment”.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, meanwhile, called Saturday’s confirmation a “sad day for America.”

In a fiery statement, Brady co-presidents Kris Brown and Avery Gardner said that Kavanaugh lacked the ability to be impartial on the subject of gun control, citing both his testimony and the NRA’s financial support of his confirmation.


“He is a Second Amendment extremist who rationalized his belief during the confirmation process that assault weapon bans are unconstitutional by claim that assault weapons are ‘common’ because ‘millions and millions’ of them are owned in the United States. And when a survivor of gun violence stands before the Court, as is sure to happen, will he or she get a fair hearing from a man who ranted and raved about political enemies in front of the Senate, while the NRA spent over a million dollars to support him?” Brown and Gardner said.

The NRA, for its part, predictably celebrated Kavanaugh’s confirmation in their own statement. Kavanaugh will “interpret the Constitution as the framers intended,” the guns rights group said,spinning the confirmation as a Second Amendment victory.

As the Brady Campaign noted in their statement, the NRA had indeed spent big to support Kavanaugh. The group previously announced plans to spend $1 million in pro-Kavanaugh television ads. This spending came amid reports of the NRA finding itself in deep financial trouble, illustrating just how important the group saw the fight over the judge.

With Kavanaugh now on the court, all groups are turning their eyes toward the legal battles in the future. Despite the court seemingly being stacked against them, the Brady Campaign stated that it “has been fighting in the courts for gun safety for 30 years, and we’re prepared for the fight ahead.”