Matthew Corey says when it comes to the Second Amendment, there is a stark contrast between himself and his opponent, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

Corey, 54, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee in Connecticut, is a Navy veteran and a small business owner. He told Breitbart News in an interview Tuesday that Murphy has made gun control his “number one issue.”

“He has been feeding off of the shootings,” he said. “It’s sickening. Every time there’s one of these tragedies, he’s raising funds on it.”

Corey recently won the GOP nomination in the state’s primary. He is hoping to unseat Murphy, who is seeking his second term as a U.S. senator. Murphy was first elected in 2012 and immediately became a national advocate for gun control after the school shooting in Newtown in his home state.

“Look, I’m an avid Second Amendment supporter,” Corey said. “I took the oath to protect the Constitution in the United States Navy. This is about school safety. Two school districts here in Connecticut just put resource officers in their schools who are carrying. This is about protecting our kids. It’s about a mental health issue.”

In October 2017, the Hill reported Murphy had sent out a fundraising email less than two days after a shooter killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others at a country music festival in Las Vegas. The email split donations among three gun control groups and his own campaign for re-election.

Corey pointed out cities like Chicago and Hartford have not curbed shootings, despite restrictive gun laws.

“This is not about the gun,” he asserted. “It’s about lack of opportunity, broken families, and mental health.”

Corey comes out equally as strong against sanctuary cities.

“I’m totally against sanctuary cities,” he said. “Look, we need to listen to law enforcement. Our border patrol is telling us that there’s drugs – heroin – and human trafficking coming across our borders. If you look at the towns across from Laredo, Texas in Mexico, it’s one of the most violent cities with gang violence. Border patrol is asking for a wall down there.”

Corey noted the many acts of violence committed by illegal immigrants in violent gangs, including MS-13.

“I’ve never seen Sen. Murphy stand with Angel Moms,” he added. “I think America should be first, Americans should be taken care of first. People who came to this country when they were young can still go through the normal immigration process. I work with a lot of people in my window-cleaning business from Boston and New York who came here and did it the right way.”

Corey said upholding sanctuary cities in Connecticut is “not the way to go.”

“Sen. Murphy should be blessed his kids don’t have to live in those neighborhoods that are drug-infested and gang-infested,” he asserted. “Where you can’t even walk your kid to school and feel safe, where you can’t sit in the playground and feel safe. You don’t have to look farther than Bridgeport, New Haven, or Hartford to see the violence. It’s not fair. Sanctuary cities – and not cooperating with ICE agents and federal agents when you have people committing crimes – is not the way to go.”

Corey has embraced many of President Donald Trump’s policies that, in his view, have helped strengthen the economy and the job market.

“I’m a small business owner,” he told Breitbart News. “And even as Sen. Murphy and the politicians in Connecticut want to keep this state as a firewall against President Trump’s policies, they’re definitely going in the wrong direction.”

In addition to owning a high-rise window cleaning company for over 30 years, Corey has owned a Hartford pub in the past, and now says he is looking to open a sports bar in Manchester, his hometown.

He noted Murphy said if the Democrats win back the majority, they will overturn Trump’s tax reform policy.

“That bill right there has helped my small business and has helped many a small business here in Connecticut,” Corey explained. “They cannot find enough people to fill these manufacturing jobs. The defense bill has helped Connecticut. As much as the Democrats in Connecticut hate this administration so much, they can’t even give Trump credit for indirectly helping the state out through his tax policies.”

Corey underscored his view that Murphy is out of touch with most of the people in Connecticut, adding the senator is simply “towing the party line down in Washington.”

The Republican nominee said he supports GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski.

“If anyone in this state – whether it’s on a state level or federal level – votes Democrat, you’re voting for tax increases and the installation of tolls on our roads,” he stated. “That’s not business-friendly. That’s not helping out our cause. Many people have already left our state, not just individuals, but small business owners.”

Currently, Connecticut is struggling under the weight of a five-billion-dollar budget deficit and $86 billion in unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities.

Corey acknowledged that while Connecticut has turned itself into a pro-abortion rights state, he himself is pro-life.

“I do believe taxpayer monies should not fund Planned Parenthood,” he said. “There’s plenty of other healthcare facilities out there. Doctors take the oath to protect life.”

Corey said he sees himself primarily as a working man who wants to help the president bring back jobs.

“Chris Murphy doesn’t represent the working families of Connecticut,” he said. “He walks into a manufacturing facility, and they’re still facing the same issues he’s been talking about for the last 10 years on the campaign trail. You have to run a business and own a business to understand how the business functions.”

Corey previously ran for Congress against U.S. Rep. John Larson, a Democrat, who has been in office since 1999.