Wednesday on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time,” 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) said he is calling for confiscations of all “AR-15s and AK-47s.”
When asked if he is “in favor of gun confiscation,” O’Rourke said, “Yes, when it comes to AR-15s and AK-47s, weapons designed for use on a military battlefield, the high-impact, high-velocity round fired from those weapons when it hits your body expends all of kinetic energy destroying everything inside. I’ve met those who survived and those who lost a family member. That belongs on the battlefield and now in this country. When it comes to those weapons, the answer is yes. When it comes to firearms used for hunting and self-defense, the answer is no. I don’t want you or anyone else to get into the fear-mongering that some have fallen prey to saying the government is going to come and take all of your guns. What we are talking about exclusively is weapons of war that should remain on the battlefield.”
He continued, “So you listen to a justice like Antonin Scalia, not the most liberal justice who served on the Supreme Court, and even he found that there is no absolute guarantee under the Second Amendment and that the government does have a power to regulate those kinds of weapons that are extraordinarily unusual or deadly. And an AR-15 or an AK-47 like the one used in El Paso —and I’m grateful that you came to El Paso and came and saw and met some of those victims yourself. In under three minutes, 22 people were killed and dozens more grievously injured. That’s what that AK-47 was designed to do. ”
He added, “I’m willing to fight that one all the way to the end because it is not common. It is unusual. and no one in this country, including owners of AR-15s and AK-47s think that what is happening right now is okay.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.