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.
"The gun issue cost Gore the White House"?
Oh, I don't think so. There were so many, many other reasons not to vote for that stiff....
Because the RINO's will finally get what they want. A GOP that is just a branch office of the DNC.
Yep, they will lose the support of many gun owners, pro-life activists and anti-illegal-immigration activists with a Rudy nomination.
Of course, when the GOP loses, it's the fault of those who were given no reason to be enthused for the choice put forward.
The last thing conservatives need is the NRA out there telling people no Rudy. We need the NRA to help reps get in, we need everybody but a gun grabber.
I am honestly beginning to think that is the plan.
Just how stupid do they think we are?
Actually, in the end, I would say the Elian raid cost Gore the White House. I would say that raid swung a statistically-significant percentage of the Cuban-American vote away from the Dems. And Bush won by what? 900 votes?
Exactly. As another Freeper adds to his posts: FMCDH.
I'm sure you realize that you are quoting something Giuliani said back in 1997. Perhaps it would be helpful in an honest debate to provide quotes that aren't quite so old. I'm sure many of us believed something ten years ago that we no longer believe in today. :)
When's the last time we elected the cream of the crop??
Who was it?
We have has a turd saver toilet in DC for so many years we don't know what a clean one looks like.
Try flushing it - good luck.
If I had the power to appoint one person to be president to fix this country, it would be Walter E Williams. That man holds and can explain the principles of individual liberty that the founding fathers fought and died for.
Oh, they despise the red-state rubes. The Rockefeller wing of the party has a very hard time concealing their contempt for the hicks the GOP has to count on for a victory every four years. I really think many of them would rather lose than let a conservative win (Bret Schundler and Randy Graf come to mind as examples).
Even you have dirt on you... give Rudy a break!
;-)
Reagan.
Bush II has issues, but at least he's pro-life and a centrist in the GOP.
I won't. His nomination would be an utter disaster. From the Rockefeller wing of the party, who were always content to be the minority.
Except that Rudy IS a gun-grabber.
I can think of a lot worse disasters than that...
Do you have any recent ones to repudiate?
Were the gun restrictions Rudy's idea and ONLY his idea?? Was he the ONLY one behind that?
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