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.
I didn't claim it was easy. But it is not impossible.
I am not claiming either that our state of NY is exactly America anymore.
Problem is if they made it too easy it would subject itself to criminals obtaining permits too easily which brings us back to the problem that we had.
Back to Rudy though.....he is a problem fixer whether you agree with his means or not. Something I have not seen from any of the other candidates.
Romney's health care is turning into a complete disaster.
McCain/Feingold enough said. Hillary and Obama have done nothing but waste postage.
I'm anticipating that, once again, the Republicans will take the opportunity to find the one candidate in the whole country who could lose to the current unpopular Democrat du jour. It's why they tried to get Bob Dole elected, after all.
Come on, guys. You gotta find someone with more stones than Hillary for a change, and on the side of liberty rather than big-government statism. Otherwise the rank and file conservatives will stay home in droves just like they did last time around.
The Second Ammendment was created looking forward to such times as this.
Unless crack head muggers are bullet-proof, then it wouldn't help much.
Ummm, I'll try...
Global warming legislation is not a social issue, its economic. Hate crimes legislation is a constitutional issue. Abortion is an issue of life and death. I guess that leaves gay "rights" as the only social issue.
so you want to compare a ball and musket to a fully automated 10mm armor piercing 16 magazine clip......
in a day in age where muggers were hanged compared to suspended sentences and accelerated rehabilitation.
please be somewhat reasonable....also check the rule on states rights before you compare ny to the rest of the country.
And in places where the Second Amendment is still taken seriously, these things don't happen at such intolerably high rates. In fact, they happen very rarely in places where everyone's allowed to carry.
I think that it makes his position clear. Of course, the Rudybots will say that it's "spam" while refusing to address Rudy's gungrabbing addiction. I guess it's all about the little "R" for some people. They'd vote for Hillary if she switched parties.
Oh, I get it now. You know nothing about guns.
I'm sorry to have taken your time. Never mind me. Forget it.
Then your choice is...........HITLARY The QUEEN RODHAM CLINTON. How about 8 years of hell under her.
sorry, meant to say body armor piercing
and the point was the technology is a little different.
ok lightbulb?
and gun control should not be the answer, rather strict law enforcement, but you have to understand that the problem in NYC was so far gone something drastic had to happen.
Yeah, now there's a campaign slogan the Republicans can rally 'round. It worked so well when the "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi" was the scary monster...
Have a nice life. If you get a chance, go to a pistol range, get a basic course of instruction, and try a few shots at a target. Meanwhile, I'll see you in the funny papers.
Do you believe states rights pre-empt our God-given rights as enumerated by the BOR?
I agree with you generally,
just trying to get others to take the situation into context as it appplies to Rudy.
What was Rudy supposed to do given a 95% Democrat opposition on the council and borough leadership?
Shoot all the muggers? That would really fly....no he took guns away from everyone. The only thing he could do given the political climate.
Now you can legally obtain a carry permit, although difficult as others point out.....but whatever your position you can not argue with the results.
This was a NYC problem and not a national problem....and what Rudy does is solve problems....this will not be high on his list. It is only an issue because the Clintons media wing knows that division is the best way to attack opponents.
like rudy the rino would be any different
I'll have a nice life as soon as my leg heals....
you'll probably still be here attacking people who type too quickly to meet your technical expertise.
Oh, we are supposed to APPRECIATE that he only violated thousands of gun owners' rights, and not millions, huh?
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