Republican Rep. Chris Jacobs of New York announced Friday he will not run again for Congress, after he lost the support of conservatives following comments that he would support a ban of AR-15s and raising the age of gun ownership to 21.
Jacobs represents the 27th Congressional District but had been considering a bid for the newly drawn 23rd Congressional District seat. The Buffalo-area congressman's announced support for those stricter gun measures came after 10 people were killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo last month.
"Despite this backlash, I truly believe I could win this election, but it would be an incredibly divisive election for both the Republican Party and for the people of the 23rd District, many of whom I have not ever represented," he said Friday. "The last thing we need is an incredibly negative, half-truth filled media attack funded by millions of dollars of special interest money coming into our community around this issue of guns and violence and gun control."
Jacobs said that while he will not run for the 23rd District, he will finish his "time as a 27th (District) member of Congress 'til the end of the year."
This story is breaking and will be updated.
