Comstock's Democratic challengers focused on the issue of gun control, prompted by the district's increasing population of college-educated white-collar workers and suburbanites' changing attitudes about National Rifle Association (NRA) in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. At an April 10 candidate forum, Democratic candidates described gun control methods they would support, agreeing to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and implement universal background checks. Helmer and Stover criticized Wexton's support of a legislative compromise supporting concealed carry reciprocity with other states in exchange for stiffening penalties for domestic abusers caught with guns and mandating that state police perform background checks for private transactions at gun shows. Wexton defended the compromise as having improved public safety by resulting in felony charges for 60 people under the domestic violence gun ban. Biggins proposed an Australian-style gun buyback program.