James O’Keefe released Part 1 of his undercover videos on senate candidate Mark Kelly (D) and claimed Kelly “deceives AZ voters” as to the true nature of his gun control intentions.
O’Keefe spoke with Angelica Carpio, a field organizer for Mission for Arizona. O’Keefe describes Mission for Arizona as “basically Arizona’s Democrat Party and an extension of the Mark Kelly campaign.”
Carpio told O’Keefe, “[Kelly] just wants to get elected first. … Arizona is a very Republican state in general, like a red state. And I know, actually, right now it’s purple technically, but I think he just wants to get those independents. He wants to get those Republicans that don’t trust Trump anymore, and one of their main issues is guns.”
She went on to suggest that this is why Kelly has not voiced his gun control positions. She said, “I think it’s because he just wants to get elected first and then he wants to go further.”
Carpio mentions that “staffers” want Kelly to come out and discuss his gun control plans now, but “he’s trying to be elected, and then he’ll implement the measures.”
On April 20, 2020, Breitbart News reported that Kelly was not mentioning his support of stringent gun control during campaign stops in Arizona.
For example, his stops did not include a mention of his support for universal background checks, even though such checks would impact Arizonans greatly by criminalizing gun sales that occur apart from seeking government permission via a background check. Such checks already apply to retail sales, but Kelly wants to expand them to private sales, too. This means that a neighbor could not legally sell a gun to a lifelong neighbor unless first getting government permission via a background check; it means one coworker could not sell a five-shot .38 revolver to another coworker, even if they have known each other for decades without first getting government permission via a background check.
Kelly and his wife, Gabby Giffords, have spent years assuring Americans that background checks are key to making America safer. However, they do not mention that when Kelly’s wife was attacked on January 8, 2011, her attacker used a gun he had acquired via a background check.
On July 13, 2020, Breitbart News reported that Kelly was not using campaign stops to talk about the expansion of gun seizures he hopes to put in place. Kelly’s campaign website says these seizures would work by “allowing families and law enforcement to ensure dangerous individuals and people in crisis don’t have access to firearms.”
Suffice it to say that Kelly’s universal background checks and firearm seizures are reminiscent of the types of gun control in place in California.
Kelly’s campaign website also pledges that Kelly will “stand up to the gun lobby.” Arizona is regularly ranked as one of the most gun-friendly states in the union. Guns and Ammo ranked Arizona the most gun-friendly state, period, in 2019.
But Kelly has gun control intentions that field organizer Angelica Carpio suggests he does not want to discuss until after the election.
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 at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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