Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) noted during Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing that, while Democrats are, once again, targeting AR-15s, many hunting rifles are “more accurate than a lot of ARs.”
The hearing was broadcast live on television, and Spartz was speaking to FBI Director Christopher Wray when she said, “The AR-15 gets a lot of bad rap, and you don’t like to bring up this issue, but, really, there are a lot of hunting rifles that are probably…even more accurate than a lot of ARs.”
Spartz was pushing back against Democrats who turned the House Oversight Committee’s Secret Service hearing, which was held Monday, into a full-blown gun control extravaganza.
For example, Breitbart News reported that when Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) began his line of questioning to then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, he turned it into an opportunity to urge his fellow House members to “find the courage” to ban AR-15s.
Raskin said, “Under federal law, and in the vast majority of states, even young people, not old enough to buy a beer legally, can legally purchase and own an AR-15 and carry it in public.”
Washington, DC, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) also criticized AR-15s while questioning Cheatle.
However, Spartz took time to note that the AR-15 is not, in any way, the most accurate rifle on the market, as it is perhaps far less accurate than many hunting rifles.
Moreover, Spartz noted that “millions of law-abiding Americans” own AR-15 rifles, and she asked Wray, “Do you think we should be taking them? Millions of rifles from law-abiding Americans? What do you think about that?”
Wray responded, “I’m not going to be addressing anybody’s specific legislative proposal…”
AR-15 rifles are wildly popular among Americans. Data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation indicate there are more than 28 million AR- and AK-style rifles in circulation.
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AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.