Two years ago, Republicans not just held onto the Senate during the midterm elections, but actually made gains. Much of that was probably because the American people were less than thrilled by the shenanigans during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Now, the balance of power is set to potentially shift as the White House and House of Representatives are up for election, as well as much of the Senate.

A lot of people are pontificating on just what will happen today regarding the election. They’re also speculating on what will come next.

In the pro-gun world, the best-case scenario is Republican wins across the board, thus holding the White House and Senate while taking back control of the House.

Will that happen, though? According to the polls, it’s not likely. Then again, the polls haven’t exactly been right over the last half-decade. Still, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a GOP clean-sweep.

In the end, we may need the Senate more than anything else.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’d prefer that clean sweep. Barring that, holding the White House and the Senate is next best.

However, holding the Senate is vital regardless of who wins the White House.

As we’ve seen over the last four years, President Trump has essentially reshaped the judiciary while not doing anything except filling vacancies in the federal court system. Vacant seats left over from previous administrations were filled quickly and efficiently thanks to the presidency and the Senate being held by the same party.

It’s from there we’ve gotten something we never would have suspected as possible a few years ago: Pro-gun wins in the Ninth Circuit. It may not matter much in the grand scheme of things, but appointing judges and getting them confirmed matters.

Yet if you can’t appoint judges, the next best thing is control over who actually gets confirmed.

While holding the White House is ideal, holding the Senate is essential. They control who gets to actually be a federal judge and who doesn’t. That means they can safeguard our gun rights by making sure anti-gun judges don’t reach the bench.

Then there’s the matter of Biden’s radical anti-gun agenda.

If he wins and Democrats hold the House, the Senate will be the only shield we could possibly have against that radical agenda. No legislation can pass without the Senate’s approval, that’s not something a GOP-controlled Senate is likely to do. Sure, we might have at least two more years of a stalemate, but that’s preferable to insane gun control laws at the federal level.

However, there’s a flipside to this.

See, if Trump wins but Republicans lose the Senate, then that chamber can disrupt the president’s attempts to fill additional seats with pro-gun judges. While he’s filled a lot of vacancies, there will be more appointments to be made. I’d much prefer we see pro-gun judges fill those vacancies.

In the end, though, we’ll have to wait and see. Either way, the Senate is vital to any gun rights hopes.