Would-be Congresswoman likes ‘assault rifle’ ban in private, plays coy in public (VIDEO)

A Democratic candidate to represent New York in Congress was caught on camera shying away from a public call for a gun ban, saying it would hurt her chances at election.

Tedra Cobb, running to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik for the 21st Congressional District of New York, was secretly taped during a conversation on gun policy, The Washington Free Beacon reported.

Cobb said she thinks “assault rifles” should be banned but elaborates that she couldn’t share the opinion as part of her official platform. The candidate then says Moms Demand Action advised her not to call for such a ban as it would hurt her chances to win the district held by Stefanik for the past two terms.

The Bloomberg group is refuting the exchange to a degree with Kay Folmar, Everytown’s communication director, telling The Times-Union that their volunteer “spoke to Cobb about gun violence prevention, but did not encourage or direct her on how to discuss the specific gun safety policies she supports.”

While Cobb’s platform, published in April, includes a wide range of proposed increased gun regulations and a ban on bump stocks, it falls short of endorsing wider prohibition on some semi-automatic firearms.

Cobb recently took a “no lies” pledge with The Post Star, agreeing “not to lie when talking to the media or voters, airing television advertisements or when posting to their Facebook pages.” She formerly served in the St. Lawrence County Legislature for eight years and defeated four other candidates in the Democratic primary, garnering 57 percent of the vote.

Stefanik, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, has voted for a number of gun rights expansions while in Washington to include the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act and has in the past been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

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