Posted on 09/21/2007 2:36:52 PM PDT by neverdem
Rudy Giuliani told the National Rifle Association Friday that his own views on gun control have evolved in part due to the Sept. 11 attacks, which he said highlighted the importance of the Second Amendment right of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry guns.
Facing a group that he once likened to "extremists," Giuliani sought to temper his past strong support for national gun control laws by saying he could no longer support a lawsuit he filed as New York mayor in 2000, which was designed to hold gun-makers liable for gun violence.
Giuliani said "there have been subsequent intervening events -- Sept. 11 -- which casts somewhat of a different light on the Second Amendment and Second Amendment rights. It doesn't change the fundamental rights, but maybe it highlights the necessity for them more."
Giuliani has built his presidential campaign on convincing Republicans that his performance after the Sept. 11 attacks shows he is the strong leader America needs -- but it was the first time he had linked his personal views on gun control to the terror attacks.
The lawsuit -- which ironically was being debated in a New York appeals court Friday as well -- was one of the sharpest points of disagreement between Giuliani and the gun–rights lobby, which he criticized as President Bill Clinton's leading Republican ally in pushing for a national assault weapons ban.
Giuliani rival John McCain also criticized the former mayor's tactics Friday, calling it a "particularly devious effort to use lawsuits to bankrupt our great manufacturers. A number of big-city mayors decided it was more important to blame the manufacturers of a legal product than it was to control crime in their own cities."
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson also addressed the meeting of about 400 NRA members, winning by far the...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
No, it’s Solomon splitting the baby.
No. It’s a Clinton on the road to elected office...
They are running from their records and flipflopping worse than a school of mackerels at a convention on dry land.
Whatever is expedient for the day and the group.
He has the fortitude and honestly of a ... hmm, I’m stuck for a comparison. I don’t want to insult anything, be it animal or inanimate
Rooty uses 9/11 for everything.
I’m sick of this guy.
what was he going to do...shoot down airliners with a glock??
If not, he'll just talk the talk.
barf! I wish someone would ask him if he now thinks it is o.k. for qualified airline passengers to have guns on board the aircraft. That is the only thing that could have stopped the 9/11 attacks. If he doesn’t think so, then the attacks have not changed his views.
G-D! I HATE panderers! Rooty leads the bunch!
Why won’t he tell someone that the sight of an aborted baby made him change his views.
Far more of them murdered each year than died on 911.
"Hey, I'm popular again! Maybe I COULD run for President after all!
I better start acting like I'm NOT a gun grabber!"
Please... allow me to help. He has the fortitude and honesty of a Clinton.
Nothing innocent was slandered in this post...
I am so confused!!!! NOT!!! Run! Fred! Run!
I guess I could buy that Rudy’s position might be different from what it was before 9/11. But he’s still a liberal in conservatives clothing.
Of course it is also possible that some guy may be running for President and is talking out of his as.....!
I like the analogy.
Rudy and Thompson are my favorites right now. I like what Fred had to say to the NRA, and I like how Rudy cleaned up New York. His book on leadership is also excellent.
Two good candidates! Anything - and I mean anything - is better than Mrs. Bill Clinton.
Where the heck is my BS detector??
This is like montey python with Eric Idle in a fairy costume sliding by waiving a wand.....
“THEN A MIRACLE OCCURES”!!!!!!!
...and rudy respects the second amendment but only as a regional issue.
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