Republican gubernatorial nominee Asa Hutchinson Tuesday touted the endorsement of the National Rifle Association's immediate past president, David Keene.
The NRA isn't taking sides in the race, but Keene said Hutchinson is the best pick.
At a Little Rock news conference, he praised Hutchinson for opposing any new restrictions on guns in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.
Ross, he said, wavered immediately after the shooting rampage.
On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people -- 20 children and 6 adults -- in Newtown, Conn. In the days that followed, some politicians called for expanding background checks and for prohibiting the sale of some semi-automatic weapons and magazines holding large numbers of bullets.
Keene said Ross always voted in favor of Second Amendment rights in Congress, "but when [the Sandy Hook school] tragedy hit and when he was retiring for Congress and the administration called, he headed for the tall grass."
Ross "talked rhetorically about supporting the president's program, particularly what they call the magazine ban and other provisions of it, which he later backed off of, as did a number of people in the Congress," said Keene, who is now opinion editor for The Washington Times.
In December 2012, Ross told Stephens Media that "This is not the same America that I grew up in. I think it is time to address whether there really is a legitimate need for high-capacity weapons that can shoot, you know, a lot of rounds of ammunition."
Hutchinson said in written statement that Ross "buckled under pressure and sided with President Obama for more gun control."
But Ross said that the only time that "my knees buckled after Sandy Hook was when I went down on my knees in prayer for the senseless killing of innocent children and educators.
"What these mass killings demonstrate more than anything is that we have a mental health problem in this country and we must immediately and comprehensively address this problem and get people the help they need," he said in a written statement.
"I have consistently and aggressively opposed any type of gun ban, and will continue to do so as governor," Ross said.
Ross said he's always been a staunch defender of Second Amendment rights.
"Congressman Hutchinson is desperately trying to mislead voters, but the facts are the NRA closely examined both candidates' records, public statements and positions on the issues and gave both candidates the same exact A rating and chose not to endorse either candidate in this race for governor," he said.
A spokesman for the NRA could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Ross questioned Hutchinson's explanation during a debate Monday night about Hutchinson's service on the boards for subsidiaries of foreign companies.
These companies have won more than $750 million in homeland security contracts; the year before Hutchinson joined they only had secured $2.9 million in homeland security contracts, Ross said in a news release that referred to Hutchinson serving on the board for Pinkerton Government Services Inc., Paragon Systems and Intergraph Services Corp.
Hutchinson said Tuesday that he's on the board of two American companies that are in the security business and have been acquired by foreign companies. They are Securitas Critical Infrastrastructure Services and Intergraph Government Solutions, he said.
Under federal law, when a foreign company acquires a U.S. company that's in the security business or has security at issue, then the U.S. company is required to have a board of directors of U.S. citizens, he said.
He said his responsibility "is to first protect the security interests of the United States and I'm answerable to the U.S. Department of Defense and the regulatory agencies for that security control, and then secondly, we are responsible for upper management of the company. The whole key is to avoid foreign control over a U.S. company."
In a news release, Ross asked Hutchinson, "Did you 'protect the security interests of the United States' by getting paid to outsource American jobs, security, tax dollars to foreign companies?"
Asked about Ross' question Hutchinson replied, "All I can say is that is totally weird. I don't know what he's talking about. These are U.S. jobs. These jobs are jobs in the United States. They are engaged here in the security business here in the United States."
Securitas Critical Infrastructure Services, which was formerly Pinkerton Government Services that acquired Paragon Systems, has 12,000 employees, with the vast majority in the United States, said Hutchinson's campaign manager Jon Gilmore. Intergraph Government Solutions is based in Huntsville, Ala. and the employee information is proprietary, he said.
Metro on 10/22/2014