A 15,000-member gun rights organization in Connecticut is backing Republican Tom Foley for governor in this November’s election. The Connecticut Citizens Defense League posted the endorsement on its website on Friday.
The CCDL endorsement of Foley had been anticipated. So much so that it was a point of contention during Wednesday’s gubernatorial debate between Foley and Democratic incumbent Dannel Malloy.
Malloy had accused Foley of seeking the endorsement of the gun rights organization because he wants to repeal the state’s stricter gun control law passed after the Newtown school shooting.
“The president of that organization said he had a discussion with Tom Foley where he said he would sign a repeal of that legislation. Let me make it very clear. If a repeal comes to me, I will never sign a repeal,” Malloy said.
“What I said is that if the legislature handed me a repeal provision of that bill I would sign it. That’s not saying I would seek repeal of that bill,” Foley responded.
The president of CCDL, Scott Wilson, said his organization would ultimately like to see the law repealed. But it is not politically realistic given the current membership of the General Assembly, he said.
In the meantime, the gun rights organization is seeking to overturn the law in federal court.
