U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor faced tough questions Tuesday about gun rights, abortion and her past statements regarding race and gender.

On the the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination to the nation's highest court, Sotomayor was grilled by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., about her controversial statements to Hispanic law students that she hoped "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion that a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Sotomayor said she had attempted a play on words an adage used by former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She described it as a rhetorical flourish that "fell flat."

"I want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt, I do not believe that any racial, ethnic, gender group has any advantage in sound judgment," Sotomayor said.

Senators, however, returned to topic repeatedly during the day's questioning."No words I've ever written or spoken have received so much attention," the judge said to Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, questioned Sotomayor closely on the federal right to bear arms. Sotomayor said she supports the Second Amendment.

Sotomayor weighed-in on the issue of executive power during questioning by Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who asked the judge about the Supreme Court's 1944 decision in Korematsu vs United States that allowed the detention of Japanese-Americans.

"A judge should never rule from fear," Sotomayor said. "A judge should rule from the law and the Constitution."

She did not offer her personal stand on abortion but said a 1992 ruling reaffirmed Roe vs. Wade. Sotomayor said a Supreme Court decision allowing states to ban late-term abortions is precedent.

A protester was removed from the courtroom Tuesday after he stood up and called the judge a "baby-killer." Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ordered him removed from the room.

Hecklers interrupted Monday's proceedings three times. One woman cuffed by officers was Norma McCorvey -- better known as Jane Roe of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark abortion case -- who yelled to the panel about overturning the divisive decision as she exited, The Washington Post reported. In 1971, McCorvey was poor and pregnant from being raped, she said. Since the 1973 ruling she said she has had a change of belief and become an anti-abortion activist.

McCorvey, 61, was one of four people arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.