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WEBVTT THE VOTERS TO DECIDE WHICH CANDIDATE IS BEST SO DID TO CHALLENGE ANNIE KUSTER. THE REPUBLICANS FEEL STRONGLY TEACHERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ARM THEMSELVES. >> FOR THOSE THAT ARE COMFORTABLE WITH FIREARMS, THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED. >> TEACHERS WITH A FIREARM WOULD BACK EVERYTHING UP. >> IF TEACHERS WANT TO ARM THEMSELVES IN THE WORKPLACE, I SUPPORT THEM 100%. JEAN: THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PROPOSED CHANGES TO GUN LAWS. >> IF YOU OUTLAW BUMP STOCKS, I AM SURE THAT THE LEGISLATION WOULD BE MORE FAR REACHING. >> IF YOU ARE THAT PERSON, ENJOY YOURSELF. >> IF YOU WANT TO BUILD WEAPONRY IN YOUR BACKYARD, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT. JEAN: THEY DISCUSSED PRESCRIPTION PRICES, ROE V. WADE, RUSSIA AND IF THEY WOULD VOLUNTARILY SHOW ID IF STOPPED AT AN IMMIGRATION CHECKPOINT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. >> ABSOLUTELY NOT. >> YES, I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE. >> I HAVE NO PROBLEM SHOWING MY ID. >> I WOULD GIVE THEM TWO. JEAN: THE REPUBLICANS ALSO TOOK STANDS ON KNEELING FOR THE ANTHEM. >> I BELIEVE THEY ARE DISRESPECTING THE FLAG. >> I WOULD BOOT THEM OUT FOR FAILURE TO PERFORM. >> THEY ARE DISRESPECTING THE FLAG, THEIR FANS, AND THE COUNTRY. >> NO ONE BUT THIS COUNTRY COULD YOU GROW UP IN A POOR NEIGHBORHOOD AND GROW UP AND BECOME MILLIONAIRES. >> I HAVE FOR IN A UNIFORM FOR 32 YEARS TO PROTECT EVERYONE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. >> I RESPECT THE FIRST AMENDMENT. THE NFL HAS EVERY RIGHT TO FIRE THEM. JEAN: WHEN ASKED WHICH MEMBER OF THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION THEY RESPECT THE MOST -- >> ANNIE KUSTER. >> I DON’T AGREE WITH EITHER OF THEM. >> CAROL SHEA-PORTER. >> I WOULD HAVE TO SAY ANNIE KUSTER. >> I WOULD HAVE TO SAY CAROL SHEA-PORTER BECAUSE SHE QUIT. >> NONE OF THEM. JEAN: THE REPUBLICANS WANT THAT

Advertisement 2nd District Republican hopefuls debate gun rights, immigration, Trump Candidates vie for chance to face U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster

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The Republicans candidates in the 2nd Congressional District debated many of the top issues in the campaign Friday night. The six candidates are competing for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, who is running unopposed.>> Voter guide: 2nd Congressional District raceThe candidates largely agreed with each other on many of the issues, and many pointed to their experience in business, health care or politics to demonstrate why they would be the best choice for voters when they head to the polls Tuesday.>> Meet the candidatesThe debate at the Institute for Politics at St. Anselm College focused on issues including gun rights, immigration and the performance of President Donald Trump.None of the candidates said they were in favor of a proposal that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly floating to allow states to use federal funds to buy guns. But the candidates largely agreed that teachers who wanted to bring guns to school should be able to.>> Watch: 2018 Republican candidates for 2nd District seat square off in debate"It's unfortunate that our most precious resource, our children, we take the least amount (of effort) to protect," said Robert Burns, who owns and operates a pharmaceutical quality control company. "Would I use federal funds to help people buy guns? No, but I think if teachers want to arm themselves in the workplace, 100 percent I support that."Lynne Blankenbeker, a Navy nurse who served in Afghanistan, an attorney and former state legislator, agreed that federal funds shouldn't go to buying guns for teachers, but they should be able to bring guns to school. >> Watch: 2018 Republican candidates in 2nd District react to debate"I feel badly that children don’t feel safe at school. Children should go to school and feel safe and that certainly should be a priority," Blankenbeker said. "But this is a mental health issue. It's really not a gun issue." Stewart Levenson, an emergency medicine physician and rheumatologist, said schools need better police officers in the buildings to protect the children. "The problem is we need school resource officers in strategic locations. We need the building hardened," he said. "I don't believe buying guns with federal education money is the answer. But the problem is these schools have had resource officers, but they haven't been the highly trained officers that are necessary." State Rep. Steve Negron, a retired Air Force officer who worked at Lockheed Martin, also disagreed with the idea of buying guns with federal dollars. But he said the issue of protecting people from gun violence is bigger than the schools. "It's more than schools," he said. "It's about being able to protect yourself. I'm a father of three, and even though our children are a little bit older, it's not just about schools. And we shouldn't be myopic when we talk about this stuff." Brian Belanger, who owned an excavation and septic service business, said parents who own guns irresponsibly are largely to blame for gun violence in schools. "Kids are getting guns from their parents, from their parents' closets, from their parents' dresser drawers," he said. "It takes a parent or it takes a gun owner to lock up their weapon and be sensible." Gerard Beloin, an author who owns a business that engineers roofing systems, said gun violence is the result of a culture that has changed significantly from when he was growing up. "I grew up in Colebrook, New Hampshire, on the Canadian border," he said. "When I was going to high school, we brought our guns to school. I remember trying out my friend's gun in the parking lot. I wasn't shooting it, but I was aiming it around. Everybody saw it, and it was not a problem. I don’t think it's gun violence so much as it is the culture."The candidates were asked about immigration, but instead of focusing on illegal immigration, they were asked whether they thought legal immigration should be reduced. Belanger said he was in favor of restricting all immigration because he believes the system gets abused. "You may have half the family members that come in here legally, but it's the other half, that may be the criminal half, that'll come in here illegally," he said. "When they get here, they obviously gravitate around these sanctuary cities where they know they’ll be protected." Blankenbeker praised Trump in her answer, saying that immigration should be reduced in ways such as ending the diversity visa lottery program. "I think the lottery system was terrible," she said. "And I think that the president has even thought that was really a terrible way to come in, to bring in folks who we weren’t sure who was going to win the lottery and come in. So I think that was a good first start by our president in decreasing the amount of legal immigrants." Trump has proposed ending the program, but it is still an active program. The State Department runs a drawing from entries, and to qualify for the program, entrants have to have a high school education or have worked for two years in a skilled job. The entrants are also checked against crime and terrorism databases. Levenson also said he supported attempts to curtail legal immigration, but he said the way that some areas of the economy that rely on immigrants are struggling shows that the system is flawed. "We have to start taking care of our own citizens before we decide what's going to be next," he said. "There are areas where people can come here as guest workers. Our own agricultural industry can't get enough workers. They have to advertise at huge costs. They can't fill jobs, and yet this whole system is not working." Burns said that the problems of illegal immigration have led to problems with legal immigration. "My mother immigrated here legally, so I understand this," he said. "And quite frankly, it is unfortunate sometimes when people are trying to come here legally, and it is a marriage-type situation, and they have trouble getting here because of all the problems that the illegal immigration has caused." Negron, who said his grandfather immigrated legally from Mexico in 1921, also praised Trump for trying to slow down immigration. "We are a land of laws, and we need to follow those laws, and if we're not, we need to get back to it," he said.Levenson was asked about his role as a whistleblower when he exposed substandard conditions at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He was questioned about why he didn't come forward with his concerns earlier. "As long as I was able to do my job with integrity, I worked within the system," he said. "But when the VA changed how they would deal with problems from addressing them to covering them up, that's where I got off. That's when I met with Ann Kuster. If Ann Kuster had done her job, I wouldn’t be running here tonight." Levenson said that a lack of an adequate response from Kuster inspired him to get into the race. In one of the only clashes between candidates of the debate, Negron challenged how effective Levenson was in bringing about change. He said there is still a backlog of 400,000 disability claims appeals. "The thing I'm trying to wrap my head around is ... Dr. Levenson put out that the very No. 1 reason to vote him into Congress is that he took on Washington and won. I don't think anybody's won," he said. "This fight's not over, and the people that have been fighting it, long before Dr. Levenson became a whistleblower, were veterans and veterans organizations. Those are the ones out there who started turning this tide."When asked their thoughts on Trump's performance in Helsinki, where he was widely criticized for saying he accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin's contention that Russia didn't interfere in the 2016 election, the candidates all praised Trump for being an effective diplomat. Negron said Trump was "playing a 3D chess game with Putin," while Burns described the president as a master negotiator. Belanger said Trump has a plan for Russia and needs the support of the people of America to complete that plan. While the other candidates acknowledged that Russia at least tried to interfere in the 2016 election, Belanger said there was no hacking.