Tom Foley, the Republican candidate for governor in Connecticut, is critical of the state's sweeping gun control laws passed after the 2012 elementary school shooting in Newtown. But when asked what measures he would support, Foley wouldn't say.
During a meeting Wednesday with the editorial boards of several Connecticut outlets, Foley was short on specifics when quizzed on a number of issues. The Connecticut Post reported that the Greenwich millionaire would not say whether he would reduce mass transit funding, or identify which state regulations he would wish to roll back.
When it came to anti-gun violence legislation, Foley declined to take a position on the Connecticut law that prohibits the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The ban was signed into law by Gov. Dan Malloy (D) last year as part of a comprehensive package that also expanded background checks for private gun sales and broadened the state's assault weapons ban to include newer firearms models.
"I'm not going to rewrite the bill, but there were a lot of inconveniences put on law-abiding citizens that wouldn't have prevented what happened in Newtown," Foley said. "These guns were bought with a background check and everything was legal."
"My bill would have been different," he added.
When pressed further on what that alternative bill might look like, Foley said the shooting in Newtown was a thing of the past.
"I don't have the staff available to prepare an alternative bill and we're talking about something that happened several years ago," he said. "I'm looking down the road. I'm looking ahead. I'm looking at jobs and the economy. I'm not governor and I wasn't governor at the time."
Despite repeated efforts to elicit a response from Foley about the high-capacity magazine ban, he eventually said, "I'm not going to answer that question."
The shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, which left 20 children and six educators dead, ranks among the deadliest in U.S. history. The gunman, Adam Lanza, used an AR-15-style Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle with several 30-round magazines, and according to police reports had enough ammunition to kill every student at the school. He took his own life when police arrived at the scene.
Foley ran for governor in 2010 and lost narrowly to Malloy. Polling has shown a competitive race between the two, with Connecticut voters split on Malloy's job performance.
Foley is expected to defeat state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney in the GOP primary on Aug. 12.
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