Giuliani, Romney Shifts Fail to Allay Gun Owners' Suspicions

By Heidi Przybyla

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The Republican Party in New Hampshire recently came up with a novel idea for a fund-raiser: having donors pay $25 to fire semiautomatic and automatic weapons at a Manchester gun range. It was such a success that party officials in other cities plan to hold similar events.

Guns haven't much figured as an issue in the Republicans' 2008 presidential campaign, overshadowed by the war in Iraq and health care. That will change tomorrow when the nation's largest gun-owners' advocacy group, the National Rifle Association, holds a forum in Washington where its members will assess the leading Republican candidates' commitment to their cause.

At least two of the party's frontrunners, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, have histories of support for gun control. While the two are shifting their stances, it may not be enough to overcome the suspicions of gun owners, who may be more attracted by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.

``Giuliani and Romney have both been campaigning as pro- gun, but gun owners don't believe it,'' said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, a policy group in Bellevue, Washington. ``Thompson is going to be able to get a large chunk of gun owners'' because his record is ``very clean.''

Guns have often been a make-or-break issue for Republican candidates and the NRA, with its 4 million members, plays ``a critical role'' in the party's nominating process, said John Feehery, a Republican consultant and former adviser to House Speaker Dennis Hastert. ``It's one of those grassroots organizations you don't want to go out of your way to alienate.''

The Gore Example

Eighty million Americans own guns, and Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the Fairfax, Virginia-based NRA, said that ``you only need to look at recent history to witness the effect the issue has on politicians.'' He cited the example of Vice President Al Gore, whose support for gun-control laws cost him three crucial states -- including his home state of Tennessee -- in the 2000 presidential race.

In New Hampshire, which plans to hold the nation's first presidential primary, many Republican voters say they want to make sure any candidate makes gun rights a priority, according to Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney.

About 44 percent of the state's Republicans have someone in their household who owns a gun, and 45 percent of those voters said they believe that gun laws ``infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens,'' said Andrew Smith, a pollster at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

NRA `Extremists'

Giuliani, during his four years as mayor, advocated waiting periods for gun purchases, and in a 1995 interview with talk-show host Charlie Rose called the NRA ``extremists.'' In June 2000, he filed a lawsuit against two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors, alleging they deliberately manufactured many more firearms than could be needed for hunting and law enforcement.

In announcing the suit, Giuliani, 63, linked reducing gun availability to lower crime rates. ``The more guns you take out of society, the more you're going to reduce murder,'' he said.

These days, he has a different message. ``I reduced shootings in New York by 75 percent, and I did it by focusing not on guns but on criminals,'' he said in a Sept. 5 Republican debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

When Romney, 60, ran against Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1994, he supported two gun-control measures, and as governor supported Massachusetts's gun laws and increased fees for owners. He also signed a 2004 measure instituting a permanent ban on assault weapons in the state.

Drawing Closer

He has since made efforts to draw closer to the gun lobby. Last year, he joined the NRA, and in January he attended one of the country's biggest gun shows in Orlando.

Giuliani's and Romney's recent shifts stand in contrast to Thompson. The former star of television's ``Law & Order'' earned an ``A'' rating from the NRA for his Senate record, which included voting against mandatory gun-show background checks and requiring trigger locks. He also opposes a federal ban on assault weapons.

Thompson, 65, has made his support for the Second Amendment a signature theme of his campaign. In an Aug. 21 posting on his Web site, he attacked efforts by Giuliani and current New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News -- to crack down on gun trafficking in the city.

``I've always cared deeply about the Second Amendment,'' Thompson wrote. ``We need federalism to protect states from a big bully in New York City.''

Because of his record, Thompson has been spared criticism for his support of campaign-finance laws that the NRA says infringe on the group's free speech rights. Another Republican candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, 71, hasn't been so fortunate: Even though he too has a record of opposing gun control, the NRA is unwilling to forgive the fact that he co- sponsored the campaign-finance measure.

``The pro-gun activists never forget anything,'' said James J. Baker, a former chief NRA lobbyist who backs McCain.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 20, 2007 00:11 EDT

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