This is not overblown rhetoric. As Blackwell notes,
... (Judge Sotomayor) is one of only three federal appellate judges in America to issue a court opinion saying that the Second Amendment does not apply to states. The case was Maloney v. Cuomo, and it came down this past January.That means if Chicago, or even the state of Illinois or New York, wants to ban you from owning any guns at all, even in your own house, that’s okay with her. According to Judge Sotomayor, if your state or city bans all guns the way Washington, D.C. did, that’s okay under the Constitution.
The gun issue is a good one for those wishing to lobby Democratic politicians to look carefully at Sotomayor. In recent years, Democrats have essentially abandoned gun control for fear that it will cost them votes. If Sotomayor's position on guns becomes an issue, it could have political repercussions -- even if she is confirmed.
As Blackwell writes:
There are a number of pro-Second Amendment Democratic senators from deeply red states, including Mark Begich from Alaska, Jon Tester and Max Baucus from Montana, Ben Nelson from Nebraska, Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad from North Dakota, and Tim Johnson from South Dakota.
These senators will jeopardize their seats if they vote to support an anti-gun radical for the Supreme Court. Second Amendment supporters will now be up in arms over this radical anti-Second Amendment nominee, and you should never underestimate the political power of American gun owners.
The nomination has only been official for a few hours, and already we are learning more and more concerning things about this nominee. It will be interesting to see how this develops...