PS: I’m not familiar with the 1997 incident you are referring to in your post.
Also, What gun control measures did get enacted by Rudy in NYC??
Rudy dismissed terrorism and launched into a full-on promotion for national gun control, touting his gun-grabbing record. Here are some excerpts on Rudy's response --and Clinton.
N.Y. Mayor: Fla. Gun Laws Are `Insane'
The Palestinian Who Unleashed A Barrage Of Deadly Gunfire Sunday At The Empire State Building Bought His Pistol In Florida.
Sarasota Herald Tribune. Feb 25, 1997
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani blames Florida for making it too easy for the Empire State Building gunman to get his hands on the weapon that killed one person and injured six on Sunday.Thanks to NY gun law, crime dramatically down."The laws of the state of Florida are irrational and insane from the point of view of a decent, lawful, safe society," Giuliani said, suggesting it is easier to buy a gun than a car in Florida. He wants stricter gun laws nationwide.
If Mr. Abu Kamal would have tried to buy a gun in New York, he would not have been able to do so because in New York our gun control laws are much stricter and more responsible than in Florida.EMPIRE STATE SHOOTING SPARKS CALLS FOR GUN CONTROLTo purchase a gun in the state of New York you have to give your full name, your date of birth, your residence, your occupation. You have to prove that you're a United States citizen, you have to show you are of good character, competency and integrity. And you have to demonstrate a real need for the weapon.
And thanks in part to our stricter gun control laws, crime is down dramatically in N York City. Shootings are down over 50 percent. Murder is down over 50 percent. But the fact is that 90 percent of the guns we take out of the hands of criminals in New York City come from out of the state of New York.
We need a federal law that bans all assault weapons, and if in fact you do need a handgun you should be subjected to at least the same restriction - really stronger ones - that exist for driving a car.
The United States Congress needs to pass uniform licensing for everyone carrying a gun. Congress must do more to prevent a tragedy like the one that happened at the Empire State Building from ever happening again.
NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (IPS) -- A startling shooting incident on Feb. 23 at the Empire State Building, one of New York City's most famous tourist attractions, has led officials here to call for stricter gun control nationwide.Empire State Building killer sought `enemies'New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani argued this week that the main lesson from Ali Abu Kamal's shooting rampage is that all U.S. states must uniformly provide long waiting periods and checks on prospective gun owners' backgrounds before providing licenses for guns.
"Hopefully, this tragedy will focus our attention on the need for uniform gun control laws," Giuliani said at New York's City Hall, a day after Kamal killed one person and wounded six others when he fired randomly on the Empire State Building's 86th-story observation deck. Another eight people were hurt as tourists trampled each other seeking to flee the shooting.
In a rambling but neatly handwritten letter that he carried in his pocket to his death, the Palestinian teacher who killed one tourist Sunday and wounded six others before killing himself at the Empire State Building said he wanted to murder "my bitter enemies" in a highly visible location.Appropriate Response - Clinton Seeks To Close Loopholes In Gun Laws"My restless ambition is to murder as many of them as possible, and I have decided to strike at their own den in New York, and at the very Empire State Building in particular," Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, 69, wrote in a two-page letter released Tuesday.
The letter listed groups of "enemies" -- beginning with Americans, Britons, French and Zionists -- who Abu Kamal wrote must be "annihilated and exterminated" for carrying out "savage aggression" against the Palestinian people.
"Now the American people must understand the message which runs deep in the blood of every real Palestinian," he wrote in the letter he called the "Charter of Honor."
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said the letter "indicates a man who had many, many enemies in his mind. . . . It is certainly fair to conclude there was a great deal of unreality in this man's mind."
President Clinton responded to weaknesses in the gun laws with some needed steps Wednesday. The immediate catalyst was the case of Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, the Empire State Building gunman...
He advised Janet Reno and Bill Clinton on national uniform gun licensing. Go Rudy! /s