The race for Congressional District 18 is in our Election Spotlight.
For the second time, Incumbent Representative and wounded war veteran Brian Mast faces a challenge in a Republican primary.
Nick Vessio is a former police officer and self-described 9-11 survivor. He says he decided to run for office because of the national state of affairs.
"The anti-police sentiment. Burning down cities. Tearing down statues. This is horrible."
Vessio says he would better protect your rights to own firearms.
"Brian is for red flag laws. He's also for gun control and universal background checks. I'm not. This is a violation of the Second Amendment. I am pro-Second Amendment."
Mast says he is also a defender of the Second Amendment.
"I encourage everybody to have gun ownership. I want everybody to be able to defend themselves, defend their home, defend their family in any way that they see fit. I fully support the Second Amendment."
But he says guns should be kept out of the wrong hands.
"There are ways that we can address making sure that we are wise about making sure criminals don't purchase firearms...people with these felony convictions don't purchase firearms."
Hear both candidates talk more about this and other issues in the above audio players, ahead of the August 18th primary.
The winner will face the winner of the Democrat primary, which features Pam Keith going against Oz Vasquez.
Photo: Getty Images