Orange County Sheriff Wants More Restrictions on ‘Assault Weapons’

On June 13–the day after Omar Mateen allegedly killed 50 people and wounded 53 more in Orlando–Orange County Sheriff Jerry L. Demings expressed his desire for more restrictions on “assault weapons.”

He made clear that he was not ready to blame radical Islam for the attack. Rather, he said we have to give time for the FBI to carry out their investigation and make that determination.

Demings said:

I do believe that, as a nation, we do have to look at some of our gun laws to make a determination what we stand for, and just how prevalent some of these “assault rifles” are available today. Otherwise, if we don’t make some modification, we are going to continue seeing some of what you see happening now here and in other places around the country.

Demings did not mention that Mateen had a Florida Security Officer license and a Statewide Firearms License, so no amount of new restrictions on gun purchases would have prevented Mateen’s access to firearms. However, the restrictions would make it harder for law-abiding citizens to get the guns they need for self-defense.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.