Kavanaugh, Trump's Supreme Court pick, could trigger shift on firearms
WASHINGTON - With the addition of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court could have a conservative majority to strike down bans on semiautomatic weapons in liberal states and to decree that law-abiding Americans have a right to carry a gun in public.
Although the fight over Kavanaugh's nomination has mostly focused on abortion and health care, President Donald Trump's second nominee to the court could have a rapid impact on the national debate over gun control - a topic the high court repeatedly has avoided wading into in recent years.
The issue highlights a central difference between an earlier generation of legal conservatives, including many Reagan-era appointees, who emphasize judicial restraint, and today's more activist conservatives who say they are enforcing the original meaning of the Constitution and are willing to use it to
