A Connecticut Republican endorsed by the National Rifle Association says he disagrees with the NRA’s position on universal background checks for gun purchases. Mark Greenberg said this in a debate with Democrat Elizabeth Esty, who he’s trying to unseat in the 5th Congressional District.
“I believe in universal background checks. I believe that we have to make sure that those folks who have mental issues should not possess a gun,” Greenberg, a wealthy businessman, told a debate audience in Danbury on Thursday. He supports universal background checks for gun buyers because he’s “an independent kind of guy,” he said.
Esty, who’s been trying to get a universal background check bill through Congress, was taken aback. “This must come as a surprise, the statement Mark Greenberg just made, to the NRA who have given him an A rating,” she responded.
“I’ll tell you no member of Congress who supports a background check gets an A rating,” Esty said to the audience.
That prompted a further response from Greenberg, who’s been seeking the seat for the past five years. “As a matter of fact I was as shocked as anybody that I got the A rating from the NRA since I didn’t seek it. I didn’t even fill out their questionnaire,” Greenberg said.
Gun control is a particularly sensitive issue in Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. The district includes Newtown, where 20 children and six adults were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in 2012.
