It's not about the caliber, it's about the principle.
The specific type of gun isn't material. If anything it's an emotional issue more than anything else. I can already see the commerical "Ben Nelson voted against a gun rights supporting judge. Say no to Ben Nelson this fall, before he comes for your gun."
If it's good enough in Iraq that each household is allowed one AK-47, it should be good enough here too.
"What should be far more troubling to Senate Democrats, however, is Alito's 1996 dissent from a decision upholding the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting the possession of machine guns. Applying the logic of the Constitution in Exile for all it's worth, Alito insisted that the private possession of machine guns was not an economic activity, and there was no empirical evidence that private gun possession increased violent crime in a way that substantially affected commerce--therefore, Congress has no right to regulate it. Alito's colleagues criticized him for requiring "Congress or the Executive to play Show and Tell with the federal courts at the peril of invalidation of a Congressional statute." His lack of deference to Congress is unsettling."
The words in bold are a killer if true. You may not like it, but it just is. Heck, the rationale was based on the commerce clause and not the second amendment. Bush would make a second mistake to nominate this guy, if the words are true, unless there is some nuance I am missing.
Nothing makes me as happier pro gun commercials being ran against rats.