02.19.2014
GOP candidates for governor Block, Fung face past statements as their beliefs about gun rights evolve
PROVIDENCE — Gun rights has emerged as a contentious issue in the Republican campaign for governor with Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and Barrington businessman Ken Block being confronted with their past support for stricter gun laws.
For Fung, the focus is on his support for greater firearms restrictions as a city councilman.
For Block, the question centers on candidate questionnaires he filled out during his first unsuccessful bid for governor in 2010, as well as his support of stricter limits on so-called “assault weapons” in the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.
Both say their earlier comments came from inexperience.
Fung says he had never used a gun and was “unfamiliar” with the differences among specific firearms when, in 2004, he voted in favor of a non-binding council resolution calling on Congress to renew a nationwide ban on “assault weapons.”
The measure passed overwhelmingly, but Fung says he’s since spent time at firing ranges and now considers himself a “recreational” shooter who no longer supports such a ban.
“I have learned more about some of the firearms referenced in that resolution,” he said in a recent statement. “The real issue is ensuring that guns don’t end up in the hands of criminals, while upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Block, meanwhile, has expressed regret about his post-Newtown comments, which he had posted on Facebook.
“Like everyone in America, I was disgusted and heartbroken at what happened at Sandy Hook. And it’s easy to propose laws in emotional times,” he said recently. “But that is a mistake. I want to be clear, as Governor I have no intention or desire to change the gun laws that presently exist in the state of Rhode Island. Our state already has significant regulations on those who own guns.”
Block’s campaign manager, Jeff Britt, also defended his candidate’s past positions on gun control.
On a National Rifle Association questionnaire he completed in 2010, Block said he supported state legislation “banning the lawful manufacture, private possession, ownership, purchase, sale and/or transfer” of “very large caliber” and “fully automatic and semiautomatic” weapons.
Block, who at the time was running as a candidate for the Moderate Party, which he founded, also told the non-profit and non-partisan Project Vote Smart that he supported restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns, requiring background checks for gun show sales and requiring a license for gun possession and that he opposed allowing individuals to carry concealed firearms.
“It’s not so much that his position has changed. He’s not a gun guy. He doesn’t own a gun. But he shouldn’t have answered some of these things because he didn’t understand the issues,” Britt said. “It’s different from what Allan is saying, which is that he had a position and then he changed it.”
But the debate does not end there.
Each campaign has tried to burnish their candidate’s record on gun rights, while also trying to cast their opponent as a political opportunist.
On the Facebook page for the “RI Gun Blog,” where some of the discussion is playing out, Britt wrote: “I love to watch the justification going on. [Fung] wasn’t honest with any of his supporters who only found out yesterday about this vote. They may circle the wagons and do damage control, [but] his position, if it changed at all, changed today when he got caught. […] This isn’t leadership.”
Fung campaign manager Patrick Sweeney fired back this week: “The mayor’s position evolved six years ago, while a Republican [and] as a sitting mayor. Ken’s position was a miraculous epiphany after he switched parties and had to face the mayor in the primary.”
Sweeney also pointed to a letter Fung sent to Republican state lawmakers this month voicing opposition to legislation imposing a 10 percent supplemental sales tax on firearms and ammunition sold in Rhode Island.
Britt, for his part, highlighted Block’s opposition to the state Investment Commission’s decision last year to divest the state pension fund from investments in gun distributors.
At the time, Block accused state General Treasurer Gina Raimondo — a Democrat who chairs the commission and is now running for governor — of “pandering to the left.”
It’s too early to say how much the back and forth will factor into the GOP campaign, which is still in its early stages.
Rep. Michael Chippendale, a Foster Republican and former volunteer lobbyist for the NRA who supports Fung’s candidacy, says gun rights will, inevitably, be an important “litmus test” as both candidates seek to reinforce their Republican credentials.
Rep. Doreen Costa, a North Kingstown Republican who has been outspoken on gun-rights issues and hasn’t thrown her support to either candidate yet, agreed. She invited both to come out to the firing range with her. So far, Block has accepted.
“I think they’re both coming around. I don’t think either understood how important this issue would be,” Costa said. “It’s a long way until November, but don’t underestimate the power of firearm owners. These law-abiding citizens are a force to be reckoned with. They’re going to continue to watch and monitor. A lot of them have not made a decision on who they’ll vote for, in either the Republican or Democratic primary.”
Meanwhile, the debate rages on.
“It’s going to be a difficult choice this year,” wrote Adam Scott, one of the administrators of the RI Gun Blog, on the group’s Facebook page. “Fung was against us years ago because he admitted to drinking the Kool-Aid of the Brady Campaign. Block went loud against [Raimondo] but he was against us on several key issues only a few years ago. Tough decision.”
No comments:
Post a Comment