Blumenthal: Would you put aside your Heller II dissent and uphold a ban on an assault weapon?
Kavanaugh: I cannot make a commitment about a future case.
Blumenthal: You struck down a ban because not longstanding and applied to weapons in common use.
Blumenthal: Governmental interest and safety never entered into your test.
Blumenthal: The governmental interest never figured in Kavanaugh's test in Heller II.
Blumenthal: At Sandy Hook, 20 children and 6 educators were gunned down, as in countless places across the country.
Blumenthal: Assault weapons were designed to kill people, were they not?
Kavanaugh: I wrote that I detest school violence.
Blumenthal: I'm asking you to look at the real world.
Asking Kavanaugh to look at the real world. We all detest school violence, says Blumenthal.
Blumenthal: There's no way to know, but with a ban on assault weapons, those children might be alive. And now we face specter of 3D-printed guns. They are not in common use, but they will be if they are not banned. The test you propose is out of touch with the real world and real lives.
Blumenthal: I ask you say here that you will reconsider a test that is out of touch with reality.
Kavanaugh: If someone were come before me and make that argument, I would consider it.
Blumenthal: All of that experience is not reflected in the test you propose here.
Kavanaugh has said several times that he grew up in/near a city that was called "the murder capital of the world." Blumenthal suggests Kavanaugh's approach to the Second Amendment doesn't reflect that experience.
Kavanaugh: On the Second Amendment, I explained why I thought precedent set forth that test. Limits of prosecutorial discretion are being tested in court.
Blumenthal: I was at Sandy Hook the afternoon of that massacre. I don't know if you have been at these kinds of scenes. I don't know if you've seen what assault weapons can do. They were designed with the sole purpose to kill and maim human beings.
Blumenthal: I think the test you are proposing is out of touch and reflects a broader shortcoming with how you are applying law to facts and trying to meet an ideological standard.
Kavanaugh: I will take that perspective into account.
Hirono: Any time I do not like use I would like to go to Booker.
Hirono: Five justices overruled Abood "because they wanted to," according to Kagan.
Hirono: Precedent applies with "least force" for First Amendment rights.
Hirono: Supreme Court has been "weaponizing" the First Amendment, as Kagan said.
Hirono: Do you agree with the five justices in Janus?
Kavanaugh: That's a precedent. I won't say whether I agree or disagree.
Hirono: The court in Janus came up with strong reason for overturning precedent, if First Amendment rights are at stake.
Hirono: Supreme Court sets precedent, but it only takes five votes to overturn it.
Hirono: Yesterday you used words for precedent like reliability, predictability, stability. But that unions had been relying on Abood for 41 years did not matter.
Hirono: Particularly troubled by the fact that public-sector unions had been relying on the Abood decision for years.
Hirono: Opinion also said that unions were "on notice," but as Kagan said, the notice was Justice Alito's personal six-year campaign.
Hirono: The only reason it didn't happen in Friedrichs was because of death of Scalia.
Hirono: Then along comes Gorsuch, fifth vote there, Abood overturned and Janus now precedent.
Hirono: Do you believe a justice should be able to make it easier to overturn precedent by "giving notice"?
Kavanaugh lists other factors contributing to precedent.
Hirono: The court looked to the notice provided by a justice as one of the justifications for overturning precedent. Do prior writings of a nominee if confirmed count as notice?
Kavanaugh lists the same factors as before for overturning precedent. I understand, Kavanaugh says, with how those factors were applied.
Hirono: We will see many more 5-4 decisions where precedent can be overturned if a justice has given notice.
Hirono: Brennan Center reported that outside groups contributed 3.5 million for your nomination. One of the group is the NRA. NRA makes clear in their commercials what's at stake in your nomination. Access to guns depends on your vote.
NRA ad: President Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh to break the tie on the Supreme Court.
Hirono: Why is the NRA spending so much money to ensure you get confirmed?
Kavanaugh: A lot of ads for and against me.
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