Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Conner Eldridge said Wednesday that he would have voted for a measure to bar gun sales to people on the terror watch list that Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman voted against.
A proposal backed by Boozman to allow the delay of gun sales to people on the terror watch list falls short of what's needed, Eldridge said.
The Orlando, Fla., nightclub massacre, in which 49 people were killed and dozens of others injured, "was an act of terror and an act of hate," said Eldridge of Fayetteville, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.
"We need to make sure that someone who has been investigated by the FBI or is a suspected terrorist can't buy a gun," he told about 115 people at the Political Animals Club luncheon at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in west Little Rock. "How is this even being debated? What is the objection here?"
Eldridge said, "It's a scary thing when you've got somebody out there that you suspect is trying to commit a violent act and, as a prosecutor and a law enforcement [official], you want the tools to do something about that.
"The bill that I would have supported would have created a system to make that possible," he said, referring to legislation proposed by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would block gun sales to known or suspected terrorists. Feinstein's proposal failed Monday in 47-53 vote in the U.S. Senate.
"The other bill doesn't go far enough, and in some ways would make it worse, and that's the one that my opponent supported," Eldridge said, referring to a measure proposed by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to let the government delay a gun sale to a known or suspected terrorist, but only if the prosecutors could convince a judge within three days that the would-be buyer was involved in terrorism. Cornyn's proposal failed in a 53-47 vote Monday.
In largely party-line votes, Feinstein's and Cornyn's proposals fell short of the 60 votes needed to progress.
Eldridge said, "I don't really understand why it is so hard to make certain that terrorists can't buy guns.
"That is not a gun issue. That is a terrorist issue," he said, noting that he has a concealed-weapon permit, has hunted his entire life and has been a prosecutor.
"This terrorist gun issue doesn't affect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens at all and, in fact, I think we need to make sure that we continue to strongly protect those," he said.
Afterward, Boozman's campaign manager, Chris Caldwell, replied, "It is no surprise that the senator's opponent, after spending the last five years working with President [Barack] Obama, would vote lockstep with Obama's anti-Second Amendment agenda.
"What is concerning is that a former federal prosecutor would vote in favor of stripping away due process from Americans, a bedrock of our judicial system. Senator Boozman believes we can strike a balance that keeps guns out of the hands of terrorists while continuing to protect and defend the Constitutional rights of Arkansans and Americans alike," Caldwell said in a written statement.
Eldridge told the Political Animals Club that he is running for the U.S. Senate this year instead of another office because "with 100 senators I believe you can develop relationships across the aisle, you can have intellectually honest conversations, and look for opportunities to get 60 votes to get something done."
An example is legislation that U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.; and others "are working on to try to get 60 votes for something that we can agree will close the terror gap," he said.
"I hadn't seen Sen. Boozman's name mentioned in that. He hadn't put on any statements on that," Eldridge said.
But Caldwell said in a written statement that Boozman "has serious concerns about the current proposal, but is continuing to work with his colleagues to guarantee that the constitutional rights of American's are protected."
Regarding the nation's immigration system, Eldridge told the Political Animals Club that "we need to know what and who is coming in and out of this country," and "we need a pathway to legal status for the people that are already in this country, who are paying taxes, who haven't committed a crime, and met other requirements."
About 90 percent of methamphetamine carried by drug-trafficking organizations that he prosecuted came across the border with Mexico, most of it through the Texas border to either Dallas or Houston and up into western Arkansas, he said.
"We need to stop that. We need to know what has come into this country, so that needs to be dealt with," Eldridge said.
After expressing his support for a pathway to legal status, Eldridge questioned why people are afraid to state that.
"That's what needs to be happen. Ask any businessperson in any corner of this state. Ask anyone who is going to apply common sense to this," he said.
"There was a bill back a few years ago in the Senate that wasn't perfect. It has had its issues. But it would have moved the ball forward on this. It would have improved border security and it had a pathway to legal status. This is not a Democratic idea. In fact, this is something that President George W. Bush wanted to do. [U.S. Sen.] John McCain supported it. John Boozman did not," Eldridge said. Afterward, he said he would have supported the legislation.
Caldwell said Boozman "has consistently been opposed to amnesty, unlike his opponent, and believes we should not reward people for breaking the law.
"We are a nation of laws and those laws must be respected. Senator Boozman strongly believes that real immigration starts with securing our borders, and that we must look to forward-thinking solutions to our problem with illegal immigration, not the failed policies of the past," Caldwell said.
Metro on 06/23/2016