I am simply astounded that anyone could be fooled by Giuliani's sudden change to "pro-gun." This is the former mayor of NYC, for God's sake, which is one of the most unfree places in the country. It's a giant open-air prison, and Giuliani helped make it so. ("Freedom Tower," indeed. What the hell does NYC have to do with freedom?)
When it comes to gun rights, there's Ron Paul, and then there's everyone else. He's the only candidate who has repeatedly stated that the true purpose of the Second Amendment is not hunting, shooting sports, or even protection against common criminals. It's not even about protection against foreign invasion. It's about
fighting your own government as a last resort, just as the Founding Fathers threw off their government and instituted a new one.
Also, as I've said elsewhere, Ron Paul is the only Republican who has any appeal to the majority in this country who are sick of neocon wars against every nation that refuses to grovel before the US and Israel (which are practically the same thing nowadays, thanks to the efforts of AIPAC, ZOA, JINSA, AEI, etc.).
If Giuliani runs, he'll lose. If McCain runs, he'll lose. And they'll deserve to lose. Only an anti-warmongering GOP candidate can possibly beat Hillary. And the only anti-warmongering GOP candidate is Ron Paul.
The GOP won't accept this, though, so they'll nominate someone else. And then they'll get four (or more) years of Hillary as president. (The catch is that she's not exactly against the idea of US wars for Israel, either.)
By the way, was Ron Paul invited to speak at that NRA meeting? I got the following message from the NRA in my email:
On September 21, the NRA held its first "Celebration of American Values" conference, providing NRA members the opportunity to hear some of our nation's most important leaders address Second Amendment issues. Hundreds attended and the event was broadcast nationally by C-SPAN. The most anticipated speakers, however, were a number of 2008 Presidential candidates.
The two-day conference, held in downtown Washington, D.C., included speeches by leading Republican Presidential candidates: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a candidate for the Democrat nomination, provided videotaped remarks, as did GOP candidates Governor Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and U.S. Representatives Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.).
I don't see Ron Paul's name up there. What, was he too pro-gun for the NRA? Or maybe he didn't possess the requisite "American value" of trampling on human rights and Constitutional freedoms in the name of security?
More than ever, the NRA is appearing as little more than a branch of the Republican/neocon establishment rather than true conservatives singularly devoted to protecting and fully restoring American citizens' right to COMBAT weapons.