Gun-control advocates yesterday urged Rudy Giuliani not to abandon his years of support for federal firearms restrictions to satisfy the National Rifle Association.
“I’d be very disappointed. I don’t know anything that has happened that justifies a change in position,” said Paul Helmke, head of the Brady Campaign.
As mayor, Giuliani was an ardent supporter of gun control to help cut crime in the city – supporting a ban on assault weapons over the objections of many Republicans in Congress, as well as the NRA.
In a 1995 interview, Giuliani blasted the NRA’s opposition as “way overboard” and “what the extremists on the other side do . . . Their unwillingness to deal with some of the realities here that we face in cities is a terrible, terrible mistake.”
But on the White House campaign trail, Giuliani – who is addressing the NRA in Washington on Friday – has said gun policy should be left to individual states, not the federal government.
“Rudy had it right in the 1990s,” said Helmke, the former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Helmke said it’s too easy for criminals to get weapons because some states have lax policies.
“You could have a good law on one side of the river and a bad law on the other side,” he said.
The Brady Campaign is named after James Brady, the press secretary for former President Ronald Reagan, who was shot by gunman John Hinckley Jr. along with the president.
A federal law named after him requires that licensed gun dealers provide a waiting period and conduct background checks on gun buyers.
Gun-rights advocates argue authorities should enforce existing laws against criminals, rather than make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to get firearms.