Posted on 02/06/2007 12:08:48 PM PST by 300magnum
NEWTOWN, Conn.—In response to New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's filing of a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission yesterday, indicating that he would enter the 2008 presidential race as a Republican, the firearms industry's trade association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), reminded America's sportsmen and gun-enthusiasts of the former mayor's record of hostility toward firearms and gun-owners.
"Recent remarks indicate the mayor is attempting to camouflage his record on guns – a political maneuver now common for politicians seeking national office," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.
In June of 2000, then New York City Mayor Giuliani became the lone Republican mayor to sue members of the firearms industry as part of a wave of lawsuits that began in the late 1990's by major metropolitan cities like Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and San Francisco that sought to hold firearms manufactures responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms. The Giuliani lawsuit is still pending and being aggressively pursued by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Giuliani strongly opposed legislation blocking suits like the one he filed against members of the firearms industry. In 2005, President Bush signed legislation into law that barred such lawsuits after Congress, by a broad bipartisan margin, passed the bill. During the debate in Congress the Giuliani lawsuit was specifically referred to as an example of the kind of "junk" lawsuit the law is intended to stop.
"Giuliani's lawsuit may have gained him praise in Gotham, but will surely handicap him in the rest of the country, particularly during the southern primaries," predicted Keane.
More recently Giuliani's campaign has flipped-flopped on whether he continues his longstanding support for restoring the Clinton-era federal ban on some semi-automatic rifles based on cosmetic appearance. The so-called "assault weapons" ban sunset in 2004. Several studies including those by the Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control showed the ban had no impact on crime largely because the banned firearms were very rarely if ever used in crime. The ban had nothing to do with machine guns, which have remained heavily regulated since the early part of the last century.
According to the New York Post, Giuliani's political operative in New Hampshire, Wayne Semprini, "has been telling voters that the mayor will be an 'easy sell' - and that the ex-mayor 'satisfied' him that he won't support federal assault-weapons bans, as he has in the past." All the while Anthony Carbonetti, Giuliani's top advisor, has been telling New Yorkers "the mayor's position on this [the assault weapons ban] has not changed."
Commenting on this equivocation, Keane added, "You can't pretend to be a supporter of sportsmen and gun-owners in New Hampshire when you tried to sue the firearms industry out of existence in New York. Other politicians learned the hard way that sportsmen and gun-owners are a well-informed and highly motivated voting bloc. Former President Clinton in his memoirs admitted the gun issue cost Al Gore the White House, and Senator Kerry's ill-fated goose hunt cooked his presidential aspirations in 2004."
Formed in 1961, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is the trade association for the firearms industry. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.
And hispanics, and middle class urban dwellers. Mostly folk who live in high crime areas.
It is widely believed that Gore's support of gun control cost him his home state of Tennessee and, in turn, the presidency.
My CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS do not end at the New York city limits!
At the risk of repeating myself to those of you who have heard my story, I obtained a pistol carry permit in 1979 (with appropriate proof of need) for a .380 (I know, I know, it's a pop-gun, but easily concealed, light and with hollow points has pretty good stopping power). In 1981, I obtained a second carry for a 5-shot .38 S&W snub nosed revolver (I needed another gun when the auto was in the shop and since my dad had been a NYC detective, it was a bit of homage to him, since that's what he carried), but they would laugh me off the range since the slugs appeared to come off at 45 degree angles.
At any rate, I carried those guns for all those years, never had a problem. Only had to place my hand on the .380 twice in all of that time, but never pulled it. Therefore, never an incident.
Re-upped the license every two years on my birthday, but in '98, Rudy changed the rules and made it almost impossible to renew for me and hundreds of other, law-abiding citizens that had carried for years.
And that's the truth...
Who manages the "Bang" list anyway?
GOOD THING SEAN HANNITY IS PROMOTING THIS GUY...
I think that their stock reply is "But he'll appoint judges who are strict constructionists; like Scalia." But this begs the question: Shouldn't Rudy be a strict constructionist himself?!
What part of "shall not be infringed" escapes Rudy the strict constructionist?
Shrillary may be a worse candidate than Kerry, but that remains to be seen. (I like what you said about her voice -- "like a car alarm" -- good one!) Kerry was indeed pretty bad, and he came very close to winning, against a Bush who was more popular than now, and with the Iraq war more popular than now. I tend to agree with Dick Morris that there will be a massive turnout of single women (normally not very good voters) for her. The media bias will be at least as bad as it was in '04, and I suspect worse. For two reasons: One, feminism. Two, if Newt is the candidate, an awareness that the MSM and Rats are faced with a much more serious opponent (should Newt be elected) than GWB was. There has been only one elections in which there was such a direct threat to this Establishment: 1980 with Reagan, a situation that tilted our way because there was a Democratic administration to blame for the economy and the international mess. In '08, incumbency will work against us, even against Newt if he's the nominee, even though Newt is, in substantive terms, practically the anti-GWB in terms of conservative seriousness.
I've grown increasingly cold to Rudy over the last few days. I now am totally against him. If it's between Rudy and Hillary I will either vote Libertarian or just stay the hell home. I don't feel much better about McCain or Romney. Where have all the conservatives gone?!?
Hmm, since 1976 they have achieved not much on this agenda in many states, and a whole lot in others. NY is the poster child for gun control.
bump
Who else is running who is a strong Reagan Conservative and will defend the 2nd Amendment?
Morris is also underestimating how much she'll suppress the male Democratic vote. I work with two hard-core Democrats, they both swear they'll stay home if she gets the nomination. They may or may not, but she's the only candidate in the field who evokes such an instantaneous, negative reaction. I think any gains she makes with single females, she loses right back with blue-collar male Democrats.
Your point about the incumbency working against is well taken. But Gingrich would have one advantage: he didn't vote for the war. Whether or not he would have is irrelevant. Hillary's going to have a difficult time playing guilty-by-association with a 10-year private citizen over a war she authorized. If the War Blame card is off the table, all we're left with is ideas. Obviously, that plays to Newt's strength.
Do you have any recent ones to repudiate?
I was wondering the same. Chena, it's been six hours since beltfed308 asked for recent Rudy quotes. I would be quite interested in reading them as well.
"If you're elected you'll nominate strict constructionists, right?"
"You're against abortion but see it as an issue of freedom, right?"
"You had the NYPD set off a bunch of explosives in the World Trade Center on 9/11 but you thought the buildings were empty, right?"
Well, the last one is silly -- but you get the point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.