Democrat presidential hopeful Robert “Beto” O’Rourke told NPR’s Off Script that a plurality of Texans support a mandatory AR-15 buyback plan.
O’Rourke told NPR, “49 percent of people in [Texas] believe in a mandatory ‘assault weapon’ buyback.”
He claimed, “Only 36 percent of Texans oppose that.”
O’Rourke was then asked whether a mandatory buyback is constitutional. He demurred from answering at first, then was asked the question again, at which time he said he believes a ban on AR-15s would survive judicial scrutiny.
He hedged his bet by suggesting the ban should be instituted even if its chances of surviving the Supreme Court is up in the air.
During the September 12, 2019, Democrat debate O’Rourke said, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.” The next day, O’Rourke made clear that his confiscatory plan for AR-15s would be “mandatory,” not voluntary.
He defended his confiscatory plan by telling NPR that “the constitution discriminates among weapons.”
The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports there are 16 million-plus privately owned AR-15s in the U.S.
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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.