Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani is leaving the door open to allowing the blind and physically disabled to carry guns.
During a town hall meeting in northwestern New Hampshire Tuesday night, Giuliani told a former police officer blinded in the line of duty and concerned about the former New York City mayor’s stance on guns, “You don’t have to worry.”
“You have a constitutional right, that is protected, to bear and carry arms. It is the Second Amendment,” Giuliani told about 200 attendees in a high school gymnasium in Lebanon. “If someone disagrees with that, you have to get the Constitution changed.”
He added that he believes in only three restrictions for those wishing to exercise their Second Amendment right — a previous criminal record, a history of mental instability and an age requirement.
Kenyon Tuthill, 61, who served as a Suffolk County, N.H., police officer until his injury, told FOX News that he was satisfied with Giuliani’s answer.
During his two terms as mayor, Giuliani supported strict gun laws at both the local and national level and advocated the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. But as a presidential candidate, he vows to protect Second Amendment rights at the federal level allowing state and local authorities to determine their own “reasonable” restrictions.
Of course, this is the same Rudy Giuliani that has now reversed himself on every gun violence prevention measure he once supported as Mayor of New York City. Apparently running for president is also a study of pandering, especially to the gun lobby who make up a significant portion (votes and money) in the conservative base.
We wish someone would ask Giuliani exactly why the September 11th terrorist attacks suddenly changed his thinking about gun violence prevention, as the Mayor indicated during his address to the NRA recently. A New York Times story about Giuliani’s speech to the NRA on September 22nd quoted the former NYC Mayor:
“I believe that law enforcement should focus on enforcing the laws that exist on the books as opposed to passing new extensions of laws,†Mr. Giuliani said. He added that his views have been shaped by his time as a prosecutor, mayor and even by the Sept. 11 attacks, which he said, “puts a whole different emphasis on what America has to do to protect itself.â€
Does Giuliani think that we should allow guns on airplanes? Although it’s a crazy idea, at least Giuliani could make some kind of connection between 9/11 and his flip-flopping on guns. But to use 9/11 as a shield to cover for his past support for gun control is, frankly, pathetic.
If we’re going to allow the blind to have guns, while we’re at it, why don’t we allow blind pilots to fly aircraft?
Maybe we should turn our electoral politics into a game show where the looniest candidate wins the presidency? Sometimes it looks like that’s the direction we’re heading.
