Republican Candidates Court Gun Rights Vote

Washington, DC (TLS). Amazing things happen when politicians begin running for President. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stated this week that he believes in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution--that individual citizens have the right to keep and bear arms.

This is in spite of the fact that Giuliani supported some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the history of NYC.

But now Giuliani is running for President. A Republican Presidential candidate is going nowhere in a hurry these days without the support of citizens at the grassroots level who hold dear their right to keep and bear arms.

Just as it is to be expected that Democratic candidates on the national level will call for more gun control, Republicans on the other hand are expected by their core constituencies to clearly and strongly articulate their unfettered support for the 2nd Amendment.

The 2nd Amendment is every bit as important as the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech, free assembly, free religious expression, and a free press. These rights delineated in the First Amendment were won only by the free exercise of the 2nd Amendment.

Thus, it is the Second Amendment that ultimately guarantees that the rights delineated in the First Amendment are kept intact. Without an armed citizenry to keep the creeping crawl of government power in check, tyranny is just around the corner. And with tyranny you can kiss free speech, free press, free assembly, and freedom of religion good-bye.

In Giuliani's case, does he really and truly believe in these things, or is he merely saying them to appease that part of the Republican voting base that he needs to win the primaries?

No one know for sure except Giuliani in his heart of hearts. But I had rather hear him state his support for the 2nd Amendment, and then hold his feet to the fire, rather than risk a Democrat getting elected, all of whom are clearly anti-Second Amendment.

Next we have John McCain. McCain has an F- grade on gun rights from Gun Owners of America, showing that when it comes to crucial votes, he has consistently voted to limit the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. Yet Tuesday, in the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre, McCain stated unequivocally that he supports gun rights and believes that exercising that right responsibly could have prevented the attack on Monday.

This is the strongest statement yet by any of the three front-runners on the Republican side concerning Second Amendment rights.

It took guts for McCain to say these things in the wake of the worst single-gunman mass murder in the history of the U.S. But he is 100% correct.

Mitt Romney also reiterated his support for gun rights, although he has flip-flopped several times on the issue, leaving voters scratching their heads trying to figure out where, exactly, he stands on anything.

While the statements this week by Rudy Giuliani and John McCain in particular are encouraging, The Liberty Sphere still feels that the vast majority of Republicans are not enthusiastic about the front runners. Someone from the so-called 'second tier' will more than likely emerge from the back of the pack and captivate the hopes, dreams, and aspirations not only of the Republican core, but the electorate in general.

Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Sam Brownback, and Mike Huckabee are all very shrewd and able candidates. They are also each in favor of gun rights for the citizens.

And with the front runners now on the record in support of gun rights for individual citizens, at least we have a full field of candidates we can hold to accountability. No matter who is the nominee, we can now hold their feet to the fire and demand that they stick by their words during the campaign if they get elected.

If they don't, we can sure turn against them in a hurry.