Saturday, September 22, 2007
America's Most Important Date...
...is of course September 11th, not July 4th or any other date when we might point to our freedoms were affirmed. And, yes, you are silly if you t hought that the Constitution was designed to cover America during times of war and peace.
No, it's 9/11/01, according to Rudy Giuliani in a speech to the NRA because that was when it was okay to interpret the Second Amendment as actually permitting Americans to own handguns:
This is complete balderdash -- regardless of where one falls on the gun control argument:
If you believe in the right to bear arms, it is because of a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment. September 11th changed nothing; you always believed that. You also likely believe that private gun ownership is an enhancement to crime prevention, not an enducement to committing crimes.
On the other hand, if you believe in the traditional view on gun control, you'd be nuts to think that "September 11th changed everything." Is Giuliani ready to support law-abiding citizens being permitted to pack arms when they get on airlines? I might not have a problem with it, but something tells me that he does.
As an aside: If you are also running for the nomination of a party that believes in things like less regulation and tort reform, you also generally frown upon the idea of dubious third-party lawsuits -- such as those targeting gun manufacturers. Apparently, this epiphany is another thing that changed on 9/11 for Giuliani.
Rudy also showed "how much I love my wife": He "answered" a phone call from Judi during the speech. How cute! Too bad, as Marc Ambinder notes, that he's done it before: You'd think someone would have given Mrs. Giuliani her husband's schedule, so that she'd know when he was in the middle of a speech.
Now, it would be a little more understandable if one of his kids happened to call in the middle of the speech. Uh, oh wait...never mind.
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No, it's 9/11/01, according to Rudy Giuliani in a speech to the NRA because that was when it was okay to interpret the Second Amendment as actually permitting Americans to own handguns:
At one point, he came close to disavowing a lawsuit against gunmakers that he initiated while mayor of New York.Right.
The 2000 lawsuit sought to hold gunmakers liable for shootings with illegal guns (the case, by chance, was heard this week in a federal appeals court). At the time, Giuliani called it an "aggressive step towards restoring accountability to an industry that profits from the suffering of others."
Yesterday, Giuliani backed away from the lawsuit, saying he might not uphold it if he were a judge.
"That lawsuit has taken several turns and several twists that I don't agree with," he said, without going into specifics.
"I also think that there are some major intervening events -- September 11, which cast somewhat of a different light on the Second Amendment, doesn't change it fundamentally but perhaps highlights the necessity of it."
This is complete balderdash -- regardless of where one falls on the gun control argument:
If you believe in the right to bear arms, it is because of a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment. September 11th changed nothing; you always believed that. You also likely believe that private gun ownership is an enhancement to crime prevention, not an enducement to committing crimes.
On the other hand, if you believe in the traditional view on gun control, you'd be nuts to think that "September 11th changed everything." Is Giuliani ready to support law-abiding citizens being permitted to pack arms when they get on airlines? I might not have a problem with it, but something tells me that he does.
As an aside: If you are also running for the nomination of a party that believes in things like less regulation and tort reform, you also generally frown upon the idea of dubious third-party lawsuits -- such as those targeting gun manufacturers. Apparently, this epiphany is another thing that changed on 9/11 for Giuliani.
Rudy also showed "how much I love my wife": He "answered" a phone call from Judi during the speech. How cute! Too bad, as Marc Ambinder notes, that he's done it before: You'd think someone would have given Mrs. Giuliani her husband's schedule, so that she'd know when he was in the middle of a speech.
Now, it would be a little more understandable if one of his kids happened to call in the middle of the speech. Uh, oh wait...never mind.
Labels: gun control, NRA, Rudy Giuliani, Second Amendment
