Kagan gliding toward confirmation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan appears on her way to confirmation on the nation’s highest court, with Republicans showing little interest in a long-shot filibuster attempt after grueling testimony over abortion, gays in the military and other divisive issues.

The powerful National Rifle Association attempted to spark interest in Kagan’s defeat on Thursday by opposing her as someone who “has repeatedly demonstrated a clear hostility to the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.”

But, barring an unexpected turn, Kagan will succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens and become the fourth female justice in the Supreme Court’s history. It would be the first time that three of the court’s nine justices were women.

The NRA, which also opposed the nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor last summer, said it would use senators’ votes on Kagan in its influential annual ratings of lawmakers.

Within minutes of that announcement, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence chimed in with its endorsement of Kagan’s nomination.