Richmond: Mandatory Assault Weapon Buyback ‘Something I Could Support’

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” House Democratic Assistant to the Majority Whip Cedric Richmond (D-LA) said that while there may be “some complications” with a mandatory buyback of assault weapons, “the thought of it does not offend me and it sounds like something I could support.”

Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “We’ve heard some Democratic presidential candidates, congressman, push for either voluntary or even mandatory buyback programs for assault-style weapons. Would you support that?”

Richmond responded, “Look, that’s something I would not rule out. These are weapons of mass destructions. We know where they are. They’re in our communities, and we need to figure out a way to get those weapons off the streets. So, if it is a buyback, then I’m all for it. If it’s a mandatory buyback, I think that you may run into some complications, but the thought of it does not offend me and it sounds like something I could support. But I will say that we have banned assault weapons in the history of this country, and we should go back to that time, and so, we beat the NRA once, and we ought to do it again.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett