Connecticut Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy and his Republican challenger Tom Foley are scheduled to meet this week for their first debate before the November election. Connecticut’s stricter gun control law, signed by Malloy after the school shooting in Newtown, is expected to feature prominently in the debate.
Foley has said he would not have signed the gun legislation into law, had he been governor. Foley said he disagrees with the stricter regulation of guns and ammunition contained in the law, in a GOP debate earlier this month.
“Many of these things would not prevent a future Newtown. To that extent I think it was an overreach. And I think that somebody who was a stronger leader at the time would have taken a more into consideration people who believe they have a fundamental right to own and bear arms were trampled on in many respects,” Foley said in the WTNH-TV debate two days before he won the Republican primary on Aug. 12th.
On the campaign trail, Malloy accused Foley of failing to say what he would have done differently. Malloy says there are questions Connecticut voters should ask Foley. “Is he for universal background checks or is he not? Is he for selling weapons of mass destruction in Connecticut or is he not? Those are the main questions that have to be asked,” said the governor. “For him (Foley) to even invoke Newtown, in any sense, is unacceptable,” Malloy said
Foley and Malloy meet for their first face to face debate on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Norwich Free Academy’s Slater Auditorium. The debate is sponsored by the Norwich Bulletin.
