NRA Pussyfoots around Sotomayor: Conservatives stepped up their criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, but it was unclear how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to create bumps in what appears to be a smooth road to confirmation for President Barack Obama's first high-court choice. Even as the Senate's top Republican suggested that Sotomayor let racial bias cloud her rulings, he and other GOP senators refused to say whether they would accede to conservative activists' demands to try to delay a final vote to confirm her until September. At the same time, the National Rifle Association raised what it called "very serious concerns" about Sotomayor based on her stance on weapons rights, yet it stopped short of opposing her, citing its "respect for the confirmation process." …The NRA - influential with Republicans and some conservative Democrats - said senators should question Sotomayor on her views on the Second Amendment and curbs on the right to bear arms, and threatened to oppose her if her answers were "hostile or evasive." In a letter to senators, Chris W. Cox, the group's executive director, said Sotomayor had been "dismissive" of the Second Amendment, particularly in an appeals court ruling that held it only limits the federal government - not states…