Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., spent the first eight minutes of his 30-minute window questioning Sonia Sotomayor about whether or not she would recuse herself from three gun rights cases, including Maloney v. Cuomo, that the Supreme Court may agree to hear next term.

While her confirmation may still not be set in stone, a Republican spending this much time on a matter that would only happen if she is confirmed does solidify the notion just a bit more. Kyl was one of the GOP senators many legal experts predicted would focus on Sotomayor's position on gun rights. And he did, but he chose to focus on procedural matters.

Next term, the high court may hear Maloney, which Sotomayor decided as part of a three-judge panel on the 2nd Circuit, and two similar cases from the 7th and 9th Circuits that touch on the issue of whether the Second Amendment applies to the states. Kyl wanted to know whether Sotomayor would recuse herself if the high court chose to take up all three cases at once.

"I hadn't responded to that question [before], and you're right for posing it," Sotomayor told Kyl. She went on to say that the issue of recusal is always up to the individual judge or justice, but that she would recuse herself "on any case involving Maloney."

She stopped short of saying, though, when pressed further by Kyl, that she would recuse herself if the high court chose to address this issue by taking up any one or two of these three related cases.

"It's hard to speak about recusal in the abstract because there are so many different questions one has to look at," Sotomayor said. "I appreciate that," Kyl responded. "You shouldn't commit yourself to a particular decision in a case."