Giuliani Tries To Win Over NRA

Republican Rivals Focus On Former Mayor's Past Support For Gun Control

(CBS/AP)  Are pigs flying? Is hell freezing over? Maybe not; but Rudy Giuliani - for the first time ever - did speak to the National Rifle Association today.

The Republican presidential candidate sought to reassure the NRA of his support for a constitutional right to bear arms, as rivals Fred Thompson and John McCain focused on the former New York mayor's past calls for tough gun control.

"I'd like us to respect each other; I think we have very, very legitimate and mostly similar views," Giuliani told NRA members who clapped politely a dozen times during his 20-minute speech.

The audience of about 500 people gave a warmer reception to Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who announced his campaign this month. Some stood and cheered as Thompson said: "Our basic rights come from God, not from government."

"I've never subscribed to the notion that we made our country safer by infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," Thompson said.

And he reminded the group he has supported them consistently since 1994, the year he was elected senator.

"It's not just a matter of promises made, as far as I'm concerned. It's a matter of commitments that have been kept," he said in a veiled swipe at Giuliani.

The candidates addressed the NRA event as gun violence occurred on a college campus. Two students were shot and wounded, one seriously, at Delaware State University, and the campus was locked down as police searched for a gunman, according to officials.

McCain criticized Giuliani outright, describing the former mayor's "devious attempt to bankrupt gun manufacturers" with a lawsuit against them over violent crimes involving guns. A federal court heard arguments on the ongoing lawsuit Friday in New York.

The Arizona senator also mentioned Giuliani's use of the word "extremists" in talking about the NRA.

"My friends, gun owners are not extremists; you are the core of modern America," McCain said. "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."

On the Second Amendment, Giuliani has said the right to bear arms applies to militias but also said recently that it applies to individuals.

As Mayor of New York in the 1990s, Giuliani's views were of a very different caliber: He stood with President Clinton to get a ban on assault weapons; said new federal laws were needed; he backed licensing for handguns; praised ex-President Bush for quitting the NRA; and assailed some of the organization's views.

He described the NRA as "extremists" in a 1995 interview with PBS' Charlie Rose: "The NRA, for some reason, I think goes way overboard. It's almost what the extremists on the other side do," Giuliani said.

Today, Giuliani was striking very different notes: "The time spent focusing on law-abiding legal gun owners is time taken away from arresting and prosecuting and disabling the criminals who use guns."

One of the odder moments in his talk came when he apparently took a cell phone call from his wife Judith. "I love you," he said at the podium.

[Mitt Romney's campaign was quick to point out that Giuliani received the exact same call three months earlier.]

NRA President Wayne LaPierre says the ex-mayor has some work to do in courting the gun rights movement. "How he deals with it will be very important to the 90 million citizens who own firearms that want this freedom defended," he said.

Giuliani's one-time ally in the gun control movement Paul Helmke, President & CEO of the Brady Campaign, said, "Rudy Giuliani I think really does want common sense gun laws," and is trying to sell that message to a critical audience.

On Friday Giuliani told the group: "You never get a candidate you agree with 100 percent - I'm not sure I even agree with myself 100 percent," he said, as some in the crowd chuckled. "You have to figure out who's electable, who can win. Because if we make a mistake about that, this country is going to go in a direction that I think you and I very much disagree with."

CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield said that Giuliani might like the support of the NRA and its allies, but it's not critical that he get it. But in a Republican Party where four in ten are gun owners what is critical for Giuliani is that they do not see him as their enemy.

[flreason]

So THAT''S why we allowed that shipment of guns to get diverted--we''re supporting Second Amendment rights in Iraq!!! All Iraqi citizens need the same right to bear arms for their own protection as Americans...and of course it doesn''t hurt that at the same time they swell the coffers of the arms manufacturers. Sounds like democracy is finally getting acceptance there.

[jmegill1]

Giuliani had NYC sue the gun industry. Here is the video from the press conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs5DxwzEXHQ

Giuliani defends the lawsuit against the gun industry on his radio program. The gun industry was "overproducing guns". Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhe38wJ86Do

[jsilver2th]

Shouldn''t they be getting behind Larry Craig? He''d be hard to beat and has always been an upstanding NRA man!

[pfdurand35]

"My friends, gun owners are not extremists; you are the core of modern America," McCain said. "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."

Is he kidding with the flag waving rhetoric? Yah, under WHAT conditions was the 2nd amend founded? People waited for the iPhone and Apple still made tons of money. What is the gun industry so afraid of? The 2nd amendment is unique to the U.S. and so is the fact that more poeple die here from gun shot wounds than any other nation. I have yet to hear ONE valid arguement against tightening up gun laws. This is big oil all over again. It''s about money NOT rights. If you are law enforcement or military, own a gun. If you hunt, own a gun (hunting rifles are rarely used in crimes). But there is NO need for civilians to have handguns or automatic weapons. NONE.

[rpoole3]

Renod37 I''ll give you a good reason. To shoot you if you try to break into my house. I suppose you''re willing to accept whatever some crazed idiot has in mind for you and your family

[j-whitman]

Forget it Rudy ---- You ran from your obligation to our troops & country, the Iraq Study Group fired your 9/11 Profiteering opertuinist but......... Go get a job as mayor somewhere that likes your photo opps & profiteering.

[dutchfarmer]

Giuliani is a hypocrite. He may be Hillary in disguise. He certainly is no conservative or Republican. He''s the news industry''s darling because the news industry is not objective. Ron Paul for President 2008.

[thinkharder-]

Renod37 I''''ll give you a good reason. To shoot you if you try to break into my house. I suppose you''''re willing to accept whatever some crazed idiot has in mind for you and your family
Posted by rpoole3

And why is it that you would need a gun to defend yourself? Could it be because they are so easy to get a hold of and you fear a criminal element might take advantage of our loose laws on the matter? You, my friend are brilliant indeed. Let''s solve the problem of the criminal element arming themselves, by arming everyone else!! Genius!!

[ez-one]

A little common sence could go a long way, the only reason Giuliani is going after the NRA is because its going to be hard for him to get the right winged christins after his divorces, affairs, and no telling what else the self rightous jerk has hidden. Making people regester hand guns and banning asalut rifles makes sence, something that most closed minded republacans don''t have. When did it become worng to use American tax payers dollars to help american tax payers. If you read the bible you would see that Jesus was a liberal

[ixoye_02]

Rudy is just plain sleazy. I think once people get the full picture of who Rudy truly is, you''ll find that Rudy is an opportunist who wants to paint a grand picture of himself and his accomplishments as NYC mayor during 9/11. Those credentials are at best shallow. We need real character and honesty and not just another pretender like Bush.

[likeitis5050]

Rudy''s hero is George Bush. What else is there to say? Vote him in and he will finish the job George started, which is to divide and eventually destroy America.

[likeitis5050]

RenoD37 speak for yourself. When every criminal crawling the sidestreets at 3 a.m. has either a handgun or automatic or both...you better hope it''s never against the law for honest people to have them, too. One thing is 100% guaranteed...criminals will ALWAYS have access to weapons and they hope and pray one day they will be the ONLY ONES to have them because law abiding people will not risk breaking the law.

[likeitis5050]

ThinkHarder Let''''s solve the problem of the criminal element arming themselves, by arming everyone else!! Genius!!

let''s hear your solution since you''re so free with the insults.

[taotxzen]

Giuliani Tries To Win Over NRA - Brillant!

The Base always the Base..isnt that what Al Qaeda means in Arabic??

[taotxzen]

RenoD37 speak for yourself. When every criminal crawling the sidestreets at 3 a.m. has either a handgun or automatic or both...you better hope it''''s never against the law for honest people to have them, too. One thing is 100% guaranteed...criminals will ALWAYS have access to weapons and they hope and pray one day they will be the ONLY ONES to have them because law abiding people will not risk breaking the law.


Just like every other free country in the...nevermind...

[gretagreen]

Fred said our right to bear arms comes from God - not the government. What a pandering doof. He makes Giuliani look good.

[micma-2009]

FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP!

[iceman_1960]

"Republican Rudy Giuliani sought to reassure the National Rifle Association..."

Don''t Tase me, Bro'' !!

And in other news...

"Hillary Clinton: I am not a lesbian."

September 21, 2007

"WASHINGTON (CNN) %u2013 Sen. Hillary Clinton''s sexuality is not the most pressing issue on the presidential campaign trail, but it is likely to get a fair amount of attention on a lazy Friday in the nation%u2019s capital.

The New York Democrat tells "The Advocate" that she is not a lesbian, according to a story in Friday''s edition of The New York Daily News.

"It''s not true, but it is something that I have no control over," Clinton tells the magazine in a story set for publication next week.

"People will say what they want to say," she added."

Indeed they will.

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/

[taotxzen]

S_Temper

America and Gun Violence
American children are more at risk from firearms than the children of any other industrialized nation. In one year, firearms killed no children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, and 5,285 in the United States. (Centers for Disease Control)

That%u2019s 10,570 parents that would disagree with you.

[iceman_1960]

"Guns and domestic violence are a lethal combination -injuring and killing women every day in the United States.

A gun is the weapon most commonly used in domestic homicides. In fact, more than three times as many women are murdered by guns used by their husbands or intimate acquaintances than are killed by strangers'' guns, knives or other weapons combined.

Of females killed with a firearm, almost two-thirds were killed by their intimate partners.

In 1998, for every one woman who used a handgun to kill an intimate acquaintance in self self defense,
83 women were murdered by an intimate acquaintance using a handgun."

Source:

http://endabuse.org/resources/facts/Guns.pdf

[iceman_1960]

Sorry for the typo.

"In 1998, for every one woman who used a handgun to kill an intimate acquaintance in self defense, 83 women were murdered by an intimate acquaintance using a handgun."

Source:

http://endabuse.org/resources/facts/Guns.pdf

[iceman_1960]

RE: "In 1998, for every one woman who used a handgun to kill an intimate acquaintance in self defense, 83 women were murdered by an intimate acquaintance using a handgun."

It figures.

A gun is the weapon a coward would choose.

Cowards murder women.

[iceman_1960]

"Too bad more liberals don''t own more guns, might help thin the herd via all those accidental shootings..."
- Posted by badaxmofo at 06:42 PM : Sep 21, 2007

Don''t you have a bad ax to grind ?

[pfdurand35]

And how many times has someone''s life been saved because someone owned a gun and shot an inntruder? Give me a break. "Oh the criminals will still have guns, wah". And once they know we are unarmed they will all unite against us "honest people" and wipe us out. Paranoid much? If it takes guns to make people feel safe, they have bigger issues. Again, I''m not against guns owned for hunting unless they are owned by *** Cheney.

[iceman_1960]

RE: "A gun is the weapon a coward would choose."

We can all recall that famous scene in "Indiana Jones."

The "hero" is confronted by the two deadly swordsmen. He pulls out his gun and blows them both away.

It was comedy, but it spoke to a certain truth.

A gun was the weapon a coward chose.

[iceman_1960]

"A gun was the weapon a coward chose."

Harrison Ford, if you don''t like that, you know where to find me, boy.

(I''ll comfort Callista later...)

[taotxzen]

I know none of the gun toters want to hear this nor do they care, which is one reason we are where we are...

What the rest of the world is saying after the Virginia Tech shootings.

Europe
"Why, we ask, do Americans continue to tolerate gun laws and a culture that seems to condemn thousands of innocents to death every year, when presumably, tougher restrictions, such as those in force in European countries, could at least reduce the number?"
%u2014Mangus Linklater, The Times of London columnist
"There''s only one real %u2018freedom'' in America%u2014the freedom to kill one another%u2026 if guns weren''t so readily available in the %u2018land of the free,'' this tragedy might never have happened."
%u2014The Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins
"In a country where %u2018the right to bear arms'' is written into the Constitution and where there are an estimated 192 million firearms, the problem isn''t simply one of a particular interest group. After the tragedy, voices rose up to deplore the fact that professors and students are not authorized to arm themselves, since one of them could have neutralized the killer. With that kind of reasoning, America is not close to overcoming its violence."

[taotxzen]

(cont)

Australia
"Eleven years ago we took action to limit the availability of guns, and we showed a national resolve that the gun culture that is such a negative in the United States would never become a negative in our country."
%u2014Australian Prime Minister John Howard, expressing sympathy for the victims'' families and referring to the 1996 shooting spree by a man with a semi-automatic rifle who killed 35 people in Port Arthur, on the island of Tasmania. Australia banned most types of semi-automatic weapons after the incident.

[iceman_1960]

If we just restricted gun ownership in America, as other Constitutional rights are restricted by law, there wouldn''t be a problem.

Make gun ownership dependent on a good credit rating and a sworn oath, under penalty of perjury, that the swearer is not an abuser of alcohol or other mind altering substances.

That would eliminate 99% of the bad and irresponsible people right there.

[glossypan]

Gunowner here. Lukewarm on control until Bush''s second presidential coup. I wish this post was a joke.

[iceman_1960]

And kaligumero -- or whatever your name is, please don''t tase me, bro'', with all that psychobabble of yours.

I''m talking about responsible people.

Folks who don''t pay their bills on time are often gamblers, drinkers, irresponsible people, who shouldn''t be "carrying" at all.

Maybe some good people have bad credit ratings. Maybe there will be injustice. Too bad. That''s life.

If we eliminate the bad credit ratings, by and large we''ll eliminate all the inappropriate people from legal gun ownership.

If they''re toting after that, they''ll go to prison.

[taotxzen]

Iceman_1960

Dont confuse the issue with logic...

[taotxzen]

The gun toters take:

Crim-nals will always be able to get guns (since we have faught every common-sense gun measure tooth and nail)so we got to have guns to protect ourselves ( against scary black people)or the crim-nals (scary black people) will take over...what a country...

[gkc99]

I urge all progressives who are not gun owners to get a gun and learn how to use it. Otherwise the born-again Geezis people may just mow you down when they think the Rapture is near and they can get away with it. Likewise the neocon "patriots" who think you''''re traitors. I suggest a semi-auto AK-47--nice, reliable weapons.

[drummer94]

I hunt a little. I shoot a lot. I usually hit what I shoot at. Or I miss on purpose. No more. No less.

[sgtrds]

I urge all progressives who are not gun owners to get a gun and learn how to use it. Otherwise the born-again Geezis people may just mow you down when they think the Rapture is near and they can get away with it. Likewise the neocon "patriots" who think you''''''''re traitors. I suggest a semi-auto AK-47--nice, reliable weapons.

Posted by gkc99 at 08:36 PM : Sep 21, 2007

Them and other common criminals are the reason I own a weapon. Though I must admit I''m much less worried about the average street thug then the fascist neocons. Still if they try to take my gun or scr*ew with my life and rights more I''m sure their blood is just as red and flows just as easily as a burglar.

[condumism]

Bigger news: Blackwater soon to be charged with smuggling illegal weapons into Iraq. These same weapons and serial numbers found in the hands of a US designated terrorist organzation. Go to Yahoo! to check it out. Have fun all you BushPigs trying to wiggle your hate towards America arses out of this one!

[mh4cbs1]

Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, wrote:
%u201CI am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The [Iraq] war is largely about oil.%u201D

Duh! Bush LIED about WMDs, he LIED about a fake Saddam-Osama link, he LIED in order to Invade Iraq. We need to END this NeoCon Mightmare!

JAIL BUSH JAIL CHENEY

[kissamaarse]

You have to wonder when they are going to rebrand the GOP as the Pedophile Party, or the Airport Cruisers. At least in Rudy''s defense (say again?), he was only ban--ging his mistress at the ground zero command center while his third wife knew it. His kids hate him, and support Democrats.

[taotxzen]

drummer94

I read a lot, sometimes I read about how we got into this mess in Iraq, other times I read about how we have a 420 Billon dollar military budget that cannot equip our troops or provide benefits to the returning vets...most times it pisses me off...

*** (over)???

[starleo146]

drummer94

I read a lot, sometimes I read about how we got into this mess in Iraq, other times I read about how we have a 420 Billon dollar military budget that cannot equip our troops or provide benefits to the returning vets...most times it pisses me off...

Drummer I agree with the non equipment of our troops. They claim (republicans ) that we do not care for our troops and the administration have not gotten those MRAP''s to the troops yet. They (republicans ) say it is too expensive to fly over they can get tanks etc over there I think it another lie I bet they do not even have them manufactured yet. Yesterdays tantrum on how we do not care for the troops. Well who really cares tell me that.

[hazelknows]

He''s a greasy slick salesman, you can almost see the puppet strings now...... and was that the current wife who called during the session with the NRA..... Rudy on his knees, bagging.... sad

[starleo146]

Duh! Bush LIED about WMDs, he LIED about a fake Saddam-Osama link, he LIED in order to Invade Iraq. We need to END this NeoCon Mightmare!

JAIL BUSH JAIL CHENEY

Posted by mh4cbs1

If it will come to a vote in the senate the republicans will vote NOOOOO so we can''t even jail them.

[iceman_1960]

The "Hsu" is on the other foot.

Bush''s Bootmaker arrested !!

September 21, 2007

"GUANAJUATO, Mexico (AP) -- A bootmaker to world leaders, including President Bush and Vicente Fox, is in a Colorado jail, charged with money laundering and conspiring to illegally smuggle the skins of protected animals into the United States to provide exotic footwear for high-end clients.

The Mexican bootmaker... produced footwear for Fox''s bodyguards, Cabinet members, relatives and friends -- including Bush, a fellow lover of ranchwear who accepted a pair of ostrich-skin cowboy boots as a gift during a visit to Fox''s ranch in 2001."

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/21/mexico.illegalboots.ap/index.html

[glossypan]

I hope Giuliani gets the Republican nomination. The Evil Empire has 15 million or so hot button RR voters they have been able to count on in November no matter what. With several of the stormtroopers in jail or headed there, pictures of David in diapers and Larry with kneepads in the minds of the flock and Rudy at the top of the ticket, it MAY force even the Religious Right to think before they mark their X. Or at least stay home on Tuesday.

[jsilver2th]

Hey Rudy how''s the kids?

That phone call was SOOOO fake! A little stage craft to make him look like your average Joe- if I was Romney or one of the other goons I demand he produce a record of where that call came from- dollars to donuts it came from a campaign flak probably right in the building-

[iceman_1960]

Rudy Giuliani was described by Newsweek magazine in January of 2007 as "one of the most consistent cheerleaders for the president''s handling of the war in Iraq." Later that year he supported Bush''s proposal for a surge in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Giuliani has suggested that the President has the authority to "redirect" federal funds to support the war in Iraq even if he vetoes a funding bill passed by Congress, and in the absence of any other legislation authorizing such funding."

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Rudy_Giuliani

[likeitis5050]

Garbage. Pure garbage. Wind him up and he''ll finish the job Bush started. He wants to be just like his hero...Bush. And he''s just as fake, arrogant, and self-centered. Nothing he does or says could persuade me to believe he''s any different.

[cfin5]

Go home RG. We haven''t forgot the lawsuits you and your un-american hordes put us through. This schmoozin'' of yours is just another "Bridge to nowhere" to the likes of us. Got no time to flirt with a sheep coated, election cycle politician with a wolf fang voting record behind your words. Fred''s record is barely tolerable for me too. We need a Second Amendment protector........Ron Paul, the unsocialist!

[taotxzen]

Drummer I agree with the non equipment of our troops. They claim (republicans ) that we do not care for our troops and the administration have not gotten those MRAP''''s to the troops yet. They (republicans ) say it is too expensive to fly over they can get tanks etc over there I think it another lie I bet they do not even have them manufactured yet. Yesterdays tantrum on how we do not care for the troops. Well who really cares tell me that.

There you have it sticks...