Thompson, Giuliani start trading shots

Even though former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) has yet to formally enter the presidential race, he is already engaged in a battle with GOP frontrunner and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

{mosads}The Giuliani campaign hit back hard at Thompson after the presumed candidate posted a blog on his website taking aim at New York City gun control laws and singling out Giuliani by name.

“When I was working in television, I spent quite a bit of time in New York City,” Thompson wrote. “There are lots of things about the place I like, but New York gun laws don’t fall in that category.” 

Thompson continued: “Now, the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers, has done it again. Last week, he created a bizarre justification to allow New York City to sue out-of-state gun stores that sold guns that somehow ended up in criminal hands in the Big Apple.” 

Late Tuesday afternoon, after the blog posting had started to make media rounds, Giuliani’s campaign reacted strongly, calling out Thompson's actor’s perspective. 

“Those who live in New York in the real world – not on TV – know that Rudy Giuliani’s record of making the city safe for families speaks for itself,” Katie Levinson, Giuliani's communications director, said in response to press questions. “No amount of political theater will change that.”