WASHINGTON: The National Rifle Association's (NRA) threat to punish senators who vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has been met with a shrug by Democrats from conservative-leaning states and some Republicans who are breaking with their party to support her.

The powerful gun-owners rights lobbying group is used to getting its way by spooking lawmakers about the political consequences of defying its wishes. But it never before has weighed in on a Supreme Court confirmation battle and was nervous from the start about engaging in what looked like a losing fight to defeat President Barack Obama's first pick for the top US court, whose members serve for life.

The earlier caution may have been well founded. Just over a week after the NRA said it would count a "yes" vote on Sotomayor against senators in its influential candidate ratings, several conservative Democrats and even a couple of Republicans who have received the group's highest scores have come out in support of the current appeals court judge who is in line to become the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.