Don't Know If I Can Believe Him
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/...OlI6SwktOs0NUE
NEW YORK - Rudy Giuliani, who called for tough gun control as New York's mayor, said Tuesday the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a recent court ruling on personal liberties framed his current outlook defending a right to bear arms.
"You have to look at all of these issues in light of the different concerns that now exist, which is terrorism, the terrorists' war on us," the Republican presidential contender told The Associated Press in an interview.
He added that his thinking also was influenced by a federal appeals court's decision this year to overturn a 30-year-old ban on private ownership of handguns in Washington.
"It is a very, very strong description of how important personal liberties are in this country and how we have to respect them," he said of the ruling.
"I think, after September 11 — I mean I probably would have had the same impression before, I'm not sure — but after September 11, all that seemed much more powerful to me," Giuliani said.
He called the court ruling "a very, very persuasive argument for personal liberty" and said it "sort of maybe even did more to crystalize my thinking on the whole gun issue in light of September 11."
As mayor, Giuliani sued gun makers and distributors and once described the National Rifle Association as a group of extremists. He explained his current thinking five days after he sought to reassure the NRA of his support for a constitutional right to bear arms and as his rivals, Fred Thompson and John McCain, sought to exploit his past support for strict gun control measures.
On the Second Amendment, Giuliani has said the right to bear arms applies to militias, but he also said recently that it applies to individuals, as addressed by the federal court ruling.
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--- Some of the friendliest people I have ever talked to are gun owners and shooters and according to the gun activists we are the mass murders and felons of the nation???
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