« Previous Entry | Main | Next Entry »

Posted: November 21, 2007 1:32 PM
Giuliani Upholds Individuals' Right to Bear Arms
Email This

Seeking to shore up his support among some core Republican primary voters, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday said he agreed with a U.S. appeals court ruling that struck down the District of Columbia’s ban on individuals to own handguns.

His comments came after the Supreme Court announced it would review the case, setting the stage for its first ruling on the right to bear arms in nearly 70 years.

“I strongly believe that Judge Silberman’s decision deserves to be upheld by the Supreme Court. The Parker decision is an excellent example of a judge looking to find the meaning of the words in the Constitution, not what he would like them to mean,” Giuliani said in a statement.

Analysts have said, the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case — with arguments likely to begin in March and a ruling expected by the end of July — could propel gun rights into an issue in the 2008 elections.
The heart of the case is whether the Second Amendment protects an individual’s rights to keep and carry arms or if that right is guaranteed only in connection with service in a state-regulated militia such as the National Guard.

And with a heated battle among the Republican candidates for support from the party’s core voters, Giuliani’s position to uphold the appeals court decision — or give individuals the right to bear arms — falls in line with that of the Bush administration and the National Rifle Association, a group that Giuliani and most Republican candidates are courting for support.

Giuliani’s has had a difficult time convincing the NRA of his authenticity, however, because as mayor of New York in 2000, he sued two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors to “end the free pass that the gun industry has enjoyed for a very long time, which has resulted in too many avoidable deaths.”

During his presidential campaign, Giuliani earned a tepid response when speaking in front of the NRA, and the only reason the event grabbed headlines was because he answered a phone call from his wife in the middle of the speech.

This week, Giuliani rolled out two ads that will air in New Hampshire and Boston, called Leadership. and Challenges
“Leadership” focuses on his reactions in a time of crisis. “I believe I’ve had the most leadership experience of anyone that’s running,” Giuliani says in the beginning of the ad. In “Challenges,” the narrator says Giuliani’s time as New York Mayor was “the most successful conservative turnaround in 50 years.”

After Thanksgiving, Giuliani has a bus tour schedule through New Hampshire on Saturday and Sunday.