Posted on 02/27/2007 11:33:50 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A little-noticed oddity of the 2008 presidential election field is that the three leading candidates for the Republican nomination have, at one time or another, gone to war with the NRA and its allies on the gun issue.
After six years of thumb-twiddling boredom – the issue has been off the radar in elections and in Congress – the gun lobby must have been a bit shocked when they realized what they faced: John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, all once proud champions of sensible gun laws, are the odds-on favorites to carry the GOP banner.
Consider their histories:
McCain was the lead sponsor of federal legislation to close the gun show loophole. In 2000, he appeared in television ads in Colorado urging voters to pass a ballot initiative closing the loophole there.
Romney signed a state ban on assault weapons into law as Governor of Massachusetts. And as the Boston Globe has reported, he said during a debate in 2002 that he supported his state’s tough gun laws and vowed that he would not “chip away at them” because they “protect us and provide for our safety”
Giuliani aggressively went after illegal gun traffickers when he was mayor, and he filed a lawsuit against a bunch of major gun manufactures and dealers. He’s on record supporting tougher gun laws, including the assault weapons ban.
Now, the gun lobby is not subtle in responding to perceived threats. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre gave a speech six months after 9-11 comparing our old organization, Americans for Gun Safety, to al Qaeda and our founder to Osama bin Laden. LaPierre concluded, not without some hyperbole, that we were “a far greater threat to your freedom than any foreign force”.
So it’s no surprise that the NRA responded to this problem with overwhelming firepower.
First, they attacked John McCain, slathering his caricature on their magazine covers and calling him “one of the premier flag-carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment.” McCain buckled like he was gut-shot – he has stopped talking about guns (despite the fact that the gun show loophole remains open in most states), and he just brought on James Jay Baker, once the NRA’s lead man in Washington, as a strategist for his “kitchen cabinet.”
Then they took on Mitt Romney. After getting peppered with criticism for his gun positions, Romney, who does not own a gun, now calls himself a “proud” NRA member. He even toured a gun show with the NRA’s chief lobbyist Chris Cox, (the guy who took over for McCain’s kitchen-mate Baker).
Most recently, they trained their sights on Rudy Giuliani. In a press release this week, an NRA ally called the National Shooting Sports Federation warned: “Giuliani No Friend to Gun Owners.”
How Giuliani will respond is not yet clear – as the NSSF notes, there are conflicting signals out of his camp about where he stands today on guns.
But if Rudy Giuliani is anything, he’s tough. We hope that he treats these thugs the way he treated them back when he was cleaning up New York one turnstile-jumper at a time.
Our advice to Rudy: tell the NRA and its minions that you will not be cowed, and stick to your guns: you are a strong supporter of the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. But rights come with responsibilities. And anyone who isn’t responsible about owning, selling, or using their guns should lose those rights.
Giuliani is a Lieberman Republican, in my view. I like him, he gets it on the war, he's tough enough to lead us at war, and he's wrong on just about everything else. I'll vote for him if he's the nominee, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure he's not the nominee.
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You have the right attitude. I'll vote for any Republican also if they are the nominee. We need to stick together when the primary is over.
True. Now, the question is whether we would want it shredded while a sizable portion of the population is armed, or perhaps when our guv'ment-educated population has become docile....
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Yes, I think that's much better.
Mark
Bottom line if you don't know enough about Rudy, read his book Leadership.....rather than generalizing his approach in NYC to the whole country.
***Um, if he's running on his record then he will do for the US what he did for NYC and for the republican party (like endorsing a democrat over a republican governor). It's a valid generalization. I have no desire to read his book and put money into his pocket. The truth is freely available to anyone who reads this post and/or clicks on the youtube video, no money sliding into rudy's pocket.
Rudy Giuliani video on YouTube: "I would like to run on the Democratic line "
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793570/posts
Video of Rudy Giuliani in his own words
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBtPIrEleM
Transcript of video below.
Will the real Rudy show up at CPAC?
Culture of life:
ABC clip:
George Will: "Do you think Roe v Wade was good constitutional law?"
Rudy Giuliani: "Yes I believe, I believe it is."
Cnn Clip December 2, 1999:
Announcer: "Giuliani was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial birth abortions, something Bush strongly supports."
Rudy Giuliani : "No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing."
Immigration
CNN clip:
Announcer: "Back in 1996, mayor Giuliani went to federal court to challenge new federal laws requiring the city to inform the federal government about illegal immigrants."
Rudy Giuliani: "There isn't a mayor or a public official in this country that's more strongly pro immigrant than I am. Including disagreeing with President Clinton when he signed an anti-immigration legislation about two or three years ago."
Gun control:
CNN clip
Rudy Giuliani: "I'm in favor of gun control"
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "How about registration of all handguns?"
Rudy Giuliani: "You know I'm in favor of that. I've been on your show many times."
Gay Rights:
CNN Clip:
Announcer: "As mayor he supported civil unions, and extending health and other benefits to gay couples."
ABC Clip: "I supported domestic partnership legislation and signed it"
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "So should gay people be openly allowed to serve?"
Rudy Giuliani: "I think people should be judged on the merits. And there should not be a specific focus on someone's sexual orientation."
First Amendment:
ABC Clip
Cokie Roberts: "Would you vote in the senate in favor of Mccain / Feingold?"
Rudy Giuliani: "Yes, I'm a big supporter of Mccain / Feingold. I have been for a long time."
Party Loyalty:
ABC Clip:
Rudy Giuliani: "Frankly George, I'd like to run on all the lines. I'd like to run on the liberal line, the conservative line, I'd like to run on the democratic line if I could figure out how to do it."
Conservative Values:
Meet The Press:
Tim Russert: "Whether it's gays in the military, gun control, campaign finance, late term abortion - you and Hillary Clinton are in sync on those issues."
Rudy Giuliani: "Well then maybe the other side should stop the 'He's part of the vast right wing conspiracy'."
Welcome To CPAC, Rudy!
End clip.
That pretty well sums it up for me.
Who do you like as an alternate to Rudy? Fred Thompson? Can he beat Hillary?
Molon Labe, dearie.
The Second Amendment isn't about duck hunting.
Thanks for sharing this list. It's awesome. There are many issues that Rudy and I don't agree on but he's tough on the most important issue of the day. You can be conservative and be for Rudy. They DO go together. Look at the CPAC straw poll. Rudy came in FIRST when adding the 1st and 2nd place choices.... by 4 points. You won't find a more conservative group of 6,000 people.
Can I ask where you got this list as I wish to give to a group discussing their potential candidate. Just like to have a reference. You can send to personal mail if you wish.
And don't forget Norm, back in 2000 your Rudy launched a city lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors.........Your Rudy is no friend to the 2nd Amendment crowd.......
I didn't know that we shouldd legislate social issues. Work on your own family, your community, your city, your state. Leave the Federal government out of social issues. The President, first and foremost is responsible for the safety and security of our country. That's why I'm for Rudy, as he's the meanest SOB around in times like this.
New Yorkers wussy attitude toward defending themselves makes me embarassed to be a native of your sorry a-s state.
Nothing nutty about Freedom, just too intense for some slaves to handle though.
A tough SOB was someone like my grandfather at Tarawa, not an effete barrister from Lawn Guyland.
you've bought into the obvious sound bytes on Rudy brought to you by the liberal MSM.
Rudy is a problem solver, plain and simple. He can tackle the bs and get results.
And he will play hardball to get it done.
He did not enforce policy in areas that didn't need them, either....look at Staten Island.
I doubt going after gun racks and hunters will be high on his agenda.
Killing terrorists will be. At least read the last two pages of his book and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Keep in mind that Staten Island probably has a high percentage of gun owners, due to the high number of cops who have rights in NY that us peasents don't have.
We need a new TR on foreign policy. Not a greaseball attorney with poor judgement in women and associations.
BTW: When my grandfather was a child in NEWARK NEW JERSEY, you could go into the local Kresge's and buy a .38 or a 12 gauge quite easily. This all changed thanks to the influx of folks from Moscow on the Hudson after WWII, who, like Rudy, have ZERO clue as to the REAL meaning of the second amendment: to allow us to defend ourselves from a tyrannical government. I trust myself and my Glock over a bald Eurostatist who thinks the second amendment is about hunting.
You can get a carry permit still, but you have to have a clean record and take an inordinate amount of gun safety.
Rudy was going after the 100000 guns that were not legal and the makers who would not register. They do it with cigarettes, why not guns.
When we created the 2nd, I have a feeling that crack heads were not mugging people 100x a day and killing 10x a day.
Sorry the world isn't perfect.
The only folks who are ever issued concealed carry permits in NYC are retired law enforcement, politicians, and the well connected. New York is a "may issue" state, not a "shall issue" state like the rest of America. You have to PROVE that you "need" to OWN a handgun, let alone carry one. Getting a carry permit entails years of legal expenses and remains slim to none in most cases, unless your father is a judge (no, I am NOT exaggerating).
When I lived in Miami, all I needed was to pass a short background check and pay $80. That's how its done in America. Then again, you should never confuse the Big Bagel/Moscow on the Hudson/Sodom on the Subway with America...
The 2nd Amendment is NOT a social issue. It is a constitutional one. As such, it applies to both federal and state governments. NO ONE may infringe it. Period. Does that stop them? No. Which is why we need a CONSERVATIVE in the White House. And a real one; no more of this "compassionate" stuff.
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