Candidate Haslam talks guns, gambling, budget

Knoxville mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam said he's a member of the National Rifle Association, but he doesn't own a gun.

And he disagrees with the direction of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, which he left in 2009.

Mr. Haslam touched on a range of issues Friday as he visited with the Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial board.

"Some choose one form of recreation and some choose another," he said of his decision not to own a gun.

He said he joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns out of concern about criminals owning guns but said the group "advocated some things I'm not in favor of."

A spokesman from Mr. Haslam's campaign did not offer specifics when asked what positions Mr. Haslam disagreed with.

He also said he's not for gambling in Tennessee and figures he might have gambled $20 in his entire life. But he acknowledged his family's business, the Pilot Corp., leases space at truck stops to gambling machines in the states where gambling is legal.

He said he would address illegal immigration by making sure people do not employ illegal immigrants, which would cut off the demand for cheap labor.

He also said he is against an income tax and would cut the budget instead. One way the state could save money would be changing the way the state purchases goods, he said. He's in favor of consolidating purchasing control and limiting to few people the government's ability to buy items, he said.

Dr. Bruce Oppenheimer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University, said Mr. Haslam's money has made it possible for him to get a jump on TV ads and other media.

Mr. Haslam's two main primary opponents, Zach Wamp and Ron Ramsey, are trying to dissuade Republican primary voters who are already sold on Mr. Haslam.

"That's the two-pronged strategy ... to cut through the positive image Haslam has created for himself and second to make the claim they're the more conservative candidate in the primary," Dr. Oppenheimer said.


Gubernatorial race candidates

Republican

Zach Wamp

Bill Haslam

Joe Kirkpatrick

Basil Marceaux, Sr.

Ron Ramsey


Democrat

Mike McWherter


Independent

Brandon Dodds

Samuel David Duck

Carl Twofeathers Whitaker

Boyce T. McCall

Toni K. Hall

June Griffin

Donald Ray McFolin

James Reesor

Bayron Binkley

Mike Knois

Thomas Smith II

David Gatchell

Howard M. Switzer

Linda Kay Perry

State primary is Aug. 5.

Source: Tennessee Department of State

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