Danbury, Conn. Mayor and candidate in the Connecticut gubernatorial race Mark Boughton (R) on Wednesday resigned from gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, according to the Connecticut Mirror.
“As a member of the Connecticut General Assembly, I was a strong supporter of the rights of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen in Connecticut,” he said in a statement on his campaign website. “This remains my position today.”
Outreach Associate for Mayors Against Illegal Guns Erica Lafferty criticized Boughton’s decision to leave the organization, suggesting that the mayor left the group because of his bid for governor.
“My mom and my family have strong ties to Danbury – it was where my mother held her first school administration job and I know it is a place that was dear to her heart. That’s why I feel betrayed to learn that Mayor Boughton is putting his personal political ambitions ahead of the safety of Connecticut families,” she said in a Wednesday statement. “In fact, the tagline for his campaign is ‘People over Politics’ – but the only people that this decision serves are gun lobbyists.”
Boughton told the Mirror, however, that he decided to leave Mayors Against Illegal Guns because the mission of organization has changed to focus more on broader gun control initiatives.
“It’s really become about Bloomberg instead of going after illegal guns. Mike Bloomberg overwhelms the entire group. I think its mission has been lost,” he said.
Boughton added to the Mirror that his affiliation with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group has been unpopular with gun owners.
“The general public sees them as one and the same,” he said about the group and Bloomberg.
