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Cobb: Endorsement wrong about assault weapons ban

Congress candidate Tedra Cobb (D) speaks at a debate held by Spectrum News at its studio in Albany in October 2018. (Photo — Jenn March, Special to the Post-Star)

An endorsement over the weekend by the Albany Times Union of Democratic candidate Tedra Cobb for the 21st Congressional District caused a bit of a stir when the article said Cobb wanted to reinstate an assault weapons ban.

“On gun rights, she favors universal background checks, including on gun show sales and private transactions, enacting ‘red flag’ laws that would allow courts to take guns away from people exhibiting dangerous behavior, and reimposing an assault weapons ban while addressing criticisms about inconsistencies and loopholes in the last one,” the editorial reads.

This is particularly significant as over the summer Cobb declined to say definitively whether she supported a ban even after a video surfaced of Cobb saying she wanted to ban assault rifles but could not publicly advocate for it.

Cobb’s spokesman, Brian Phillips Jr., said Cobb’s views were not well represented by the endorsement.

“She did not explicitly say she supported an assault weapons ban,” Phillips said in a phone call.

Phillips elaborated Cobb’s response in an email.

“Tedra explained the inconsistencies and unanticipated consequences that arose from the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban,” he wrote. “It did not work. Tedra believes that to solve issues like the gun violence epidemic, we must first analyze problems before coming up with a solution. This is why we need to allow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to research gun violence.”

Cobb has been reluctant to say whether she would vote for a new ban. She said over the summer she could not say how she would vote on hypothetical legislation. Phillips said her position has not changed since then.

She does support a number of other gun control measures, which Phillips highlighted in his email.

“Tedra also supports universal background checks without loopholes, ban bump stocks, and red flag laws spanning to factors including domestic violence, mental illness, and the terror watch list,” he wrote. “These are beliefs that gun owners and non gun owners agree upon, and this Congress has done nothing to address.”

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