Our Founding Fathers believed that self-defense was the first and most important human right. That (and not concern with some supposed right of revolution) is the principal reason they guaranteed a right to arms in the 2d Am.

Today, however, a large and highly vocal set of opinion makers have no loyalty to the right to self-defense. Among the more prominent of these is Rudy Giuliani. In an interview a few months ago with Sean Hannity he outlined his attitude toward any right of gun ownership: it's a right possessed by hunters in rural areas -- except that the "right" may be abolished by government in any area in which violent crime is increasing.

Now (July 25, 2007) comes the following from an LA Times article by columnist Ronald Brownstein:

Giuliani argues that the best way to reduce tension about social issues is to allow states, rather than the federal government, to take the lead in responding to them. That would allow socially conservative and liberal states to each set rules that reflect the prevailing values inside their borders. Rather than perpetual combat in Washington, he insists, the nation could reach a new equilibrium as different states gravitated to different solutions

In an interview last week, Giuliani said the key to resolving cultural arguments "where our society on a national level ends up being very divided" is to apply the "principle of federalism." Questions on topics such as gun control, gay rights or aspects of abortion, he continued, "are issues that I think the founding fathers would say should be consigned to state and local governments, experimenting, deciding, having different views, and the federal government having a more limited role.

That perspective leads Giuliani toward positions uncomfortable for both left and right. As mayor, for instance, Giuliani supported President Clinton's nationwide ban on semi-automatic assault weapons. But President Bush allowed that ban to lapse, and now Giuliani (in a view many gun-control advocates consider impractical) says decisions on whether to ban such weapons should be made "on a state-by-state, almost city-by-city basis.

Nor would he "absolutely rule out" federal legislation on assault weapons if the state action he prefers proves insufficient.

In other words, while Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates oppose the Second Amendment on policy grounds, Giuliani's statements indicate that he has no great allegiance to any part of the Bill of Rights.