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April 8, 2013

Malloy Slanders Industry with Malicious Remarks


Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy is apparently done paying lip service to the importance of the gun industry that employs thousands of people in his state. Now, he’s spreading incendiary rhetoric and flat-out lies about the manufacturers that help keep his state’s economy afloat.

Watch Malloy’s appearance on CNN

In an appearance Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union Malloy delivered a slanderous attack on the gun industry.

“What this is about is the ability of the gun industry to sell as many guns to as many people as possible – even if they are deranged, even if they are mentally ill, even if they have a criminal background,” Malloy said. “They don’t care. They want to sell guns.”

Really?

Is this really how the Governor of Connecticut feels about an industry that employs thousands of people and contributes millions of dollars to the tax base in his state?   Can he possibly be so ill-informed or ignorant of the facts that he isn’t aware of the NICS check for every gun sold at retail?

And if so, what has changed since Malloy sent a letter to firearms manufacturers one month before his Sunday appearance, claiming his administration “has been consistently dedicated to supporting the kind of precision manufacturing that takes place at your company.” Malloy’s letter went on to request “the expertise of the manufacturing community,” which he promptly ignored.

NSSF has consistently supported improving the safety of our communities through responsible, meaningful actions such as fixing the current National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and prosecuting “lie-and-buy offenders.” To suggest otherwise, as Malloy did, is simply wrong.

Hopefully Malloy will have better answers developed before the overdrawn 139 page “compromise” gun control law forces manufacturers to move operations out of state, and the loss of the jobs they once provided to workers in Connecticut.

Larry Keane is senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @lkeane.

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