Posted on 09/21/2007 9:13:52 AM PDT by Ol' Sparky
Firearms Industry Not Buying Giuliani's Overtures
(CNSNews.com) - Second Amendment supporters say Rudy Giuliani's actions will speak louder than his words, when he addresses the National Rifle Association on Friday.
As Giuliani speaks, top officials from the gun industry will be in New York City, fighting a lawsuit the former mayor filed in 2000. The lawsuit seeks to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of their products.
Giuliani has refused to comment on that lawsuit, even as he courts gun owners, the National Shooting Sports Foundation noted on Friday. (The NSSF is the trade association of the firearms industry.)
"Recent remarks indicate the mayor is attempting to camouflage his record on guns," now that he's running for the Republican presidential nomination, said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.
"It's not surprising that Mr. Giuliani is now courting the firearms industry and the National Rifle Association -- whose members he has referred to as extremists," said Keane.
"His support for gun control and contempt for the manufacturers, retailers and purchasers of firearms may have gained him praise in Gotham, but that will only handicap him in the rest of the country. He understands this and is now trying to backpedal."
When he became the only Republican mayor to sue the firearms industry seven years ago (the announcement can now be seen on YouTube), Giuliani said he was doing so because the industry was "profiting from the suffering of innocent people." Giuliani said the lawsuit was intended to "end the free pass that the gun industry has so long enjoyed."
In 2005, when President Bush signed a bill barring lawsuits intended to bankrupt the gun industry, the Giuliani lawsuit was specifically mentioned as an example of the "junk" lawsuits the new law was intended to stop.
(A federal appeals court on Friday will decide whether New York City's lawsuit against various gun makers may proceed, despite the 2005 law that is supposed to block such lawsuits.)
The National Rifle Association has invited Giuliani and other Republicans to a "celebration of American values" on Friday and Saturday. Most of the presidential hopefuls will be there -- among them, Sen. John McCain, who is planning to fire away at Giuliani's stance on guns.
According to the Associated Press, McCain will criticize Giuliani for trying to "bankrupt our great gun manufacturers."
"My friends, gun owners are not extremists; you are the core of modern America," McCain reportedly said in his prepared remarks. "The Second Amendment is unique in the world and at the core of our constitutional freedoms. It guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To argue anything else is to reject the clear meaning of our founding fathers.
"But the clear meaning of the Second Amendment has not stopped those who want to punish firearms owners -- and those who make and sell firearms -- for the actions of criminals," McCain said.
The Associated Press quoted Giuliani as saying that he will focus on issues of agreement between himself and the NRA. For example, on Thursday, Giuliani said the focus should be on people who use guns illegally.
Hey Rudybots, any comment on gun banner and suer Rudy trying to pull a Kerry on this issue? (I was for the gun industry before I was against it, and I’m for it now — until I get elected, that is...)
Remember, though, that six years ago John McCain wanted to close the gun-show loophole.
They claim it's just a social conservative issue, no big deal, move on. In actuality he's the same as a communist on this issue in his lack of regard for the constitution.
McCain gave a helluva statement.
Sorry, our right is not based on any degree of safety. It is a right period. A person has the right to protect themself anywhere, not just in their home. They also have the right to use them for hunting, competition, etc.
But Fred Hits Homerun!
Fred Thompson hit a homerun in his speech to the NRA! In response to a question after his remarks, Fred said he believed the 2nd Amendment meant the same thing in New York City as it does in Tennessee.
Think “Home Alone”. Think “Islamism Fascist”. Think “9-11”. I have been a designer all my life. It comes easy to me. I can design far more devastating weapons than a gun. Consider a gun as a restricting device that allows you to only kill or maim one person at a time. I do not own one. I am sure that there are many people like me. I do believe that the fight of the right to carry arms was intended by the constitution for militias to protect our country from people that want to overthrow our country and rouge judges and politicians that have become subservient to a country taken hostage by illegal aliens. As it is now, I will keep my ideas to myself. I am almost a pacifist. I do remember when this nation was for Americans and we did not let illegal aliens in or call the shots. It would be advantageous for liberals to not antagonize people like me to attack them.
Huh?
“”McCain gave a helluva statement.””
For someone who was a key sponsor of the original congressional attempts at an AW ban, he sure did. It was helluva statement for the pure unadulterated chutzpah it took to utter it.
I have a long memory.
I’m also a gun-grabber. When I feel I need one, I GRAB one of my guns.
McLame is weak on gun rights himself. He just had his “conversion” a few years before Rudy. I wouldn’t trust either of them.
What a disconnect between New York Judy Riuliani and most of the rest of the country.
His people got the polling data from REAL Republicans and they finally discovered the Second Amendment. IMO, a day late and a dollar short. The sumb*tch took away my pistol carry permit that I had had for 19 years in NYC—and through TWO democrap administrations with NO PROBLEM.
We know you, old slippery ~ you can’t fool us!
Be Ever Vigilant!
Read the Federalist Papers and it will straighten out your muddled thinking on what Framers had in mind.
If the banned Rudybots were still here, they’d tell us how Rudy’s gun control was actually a good thing. (I actually saw this happen on one thread!)
No am I.
fixed it
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