The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which has long had its headquarters in Newtown, Connecticut, has come out swinging against Gov. Dannel Malloy in an ad airing in the state.
Malloy, an incumbent Democrat, has been an outspoken proponent of gun control in the state. Following the 2012 Sandy Hook mass killings that took place in Newtown, the governor helped push through a series of increasingly strict gun control measures that included an expanded assault weapons ban and registration of grandfathered firearms. This, in a state that housed such big name gun manufacturers as Colt’s Manufacturing, Stag Arms, PTR Industries, and Mossberg & Sons among others, led some of those companies to leave the Constitution State, taking jobs with them.
With this exodus of manufacturing jobs on the horizon, the NSSF weighed in on the issue of whether Malloy should be kept on for another term.
“No one in the firearms industry wants to put guns in the hands of criminals or the mentally ill. We work to stop illegal firearms purchases. Police departments distribute our Project Child Safe gun gunlocks,” says the minute long ad against the state’s chief executive. “The 4,000 men and women of Connecticut’s firearms industry reject Dannel Malloy’s politics of divisiveness.”
When told of the ads, Malloy defended his actions, telling the Connecticut Post, “”I’m not making them a pariah. They’re making themselves a pariah.”
To this the firearms industry group takes exception.
“Name another industry where he’s gone out and basically called us criminals,” said Jake McGuigan, director of government relations and state affairs for the NSSF.
Meanwhile, prominent Democrats at the highest levels are stumping for Malloy. First Lady Michelle Obama has recorded a new radio ad airing this week in Connecticut championing the incumbent governor on his work for gun control legislation. President Obama is expected this upcoming weekend in Bridgeport.
The upcoming general election is Nov. 4.
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