LITTLE ROCK -- Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Conner Eldridge criticized Republican Sen. John Boozman Wednesday for opposing an effort to prevent terrorists from buying guns, saying an alternative measure backed by the Arkansas lawmaker doesn't go far enough.
Speaking to the Political Animals Club, Eldridge said he supports a proposal by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein that would let the federal government block many gun sales to known or suspected terrorists. Boozman opposed that measure and supported a competing proposal that would have delayed a gun sale to a suspected terrorist for 72 hours, but require prosecutors to go to court to show probable cause to block the sale permanently.
"We need to make sure that someone who's been investigated by the FBI or is a suspected terrorist can't buy a gun," Eldridge told members of the club, which meets regularly to hear from elected officials and other political figures. "How is this even being debated? What is the objection here?"
The proposals were among four gun measures that failed in the U.S. Senate on Monday. They were debated in the wake of the mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub earlier this month that killed 49 people. Eldridge criticized the competing measure by Republican Sen. John Cornyn over its three-day limit.
"(Boozman) voted for a bill that doesn't go far enough and in some ways makes things worse," he said.
Boozman's campaign accused Eldridge of supporting what it portrayed as an anti-gun agenda by the Obama administration.
"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," Boozman campaign manager Chris Caldwell said in an email. "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."
Eldridge said he would have opposed a measure by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut to expand background checks, which also failed to advance in the Senate Monday. Eldridge said he opposed the measure expanding the checks to transactions between friends and family members, but said he supports closing the loophole for gun shows and internet sales. Current law requires background checks only for purchases from federally licensed gun dealers.
"We need to do more to protect law abiding gun owners in Arkansas than Murphy, but we do need to close the loopholes so that we've got a better system," Eldridge told reporters.
Eldridge also said he opposes a ban on assault weapons.
"I think there still are going to be assault weapons on the streets and denying the Second Amendment right of someone in Arkansas to go buy a gun they can legally buy now is not going to help us deal with the violence problem we have among criminals and terrorists who can already obtain those weapons and who will obtain them through non-lawful channels," he said.
State Desk on 06/23/2016