Beto O’Rourke Launches TX Gubernatorial Run with Renewed Pledge to Take Away AR-15s

Beto O’Rourke (D) officially launched his Texas gubernatorial run against Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Monday, and he is pledging, again, to take away AR-15 rifles.

Texas Tribune correspondent Patrick Svitek quoted O’Rourke saying, “I think most Texans can agree… that we should not see our friends, our family… our neighbors, shot up with weapons that were originally designed for use on a battlefield.”

The Tribune reports that Abbott has already dubbed the Democrat “Wrong Way O’Rourke,” suggesting his proposal to take AR-15s via a government-mandated buyback is the wrong way to approach Texans.

During the September 12, 2019, Democrat debate, O’Rourke looked into the camera and said, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

 

O’Rourke made this statement in response to a question about supporting firearm confiscation.

He also said he had gone to a gun show in Conway, Arkansas, where he claimed numerous gun owners said of their AR-15s and AK-47s, “I would willingly give that up, cut it to pieces, I don’t need this weapon to hunt, to defend myself. It is a weapon of war.”

O’Rourke also opposes Gov. Abbott’s support of constitutional carry for handguns.

On June 16, 2021, Breitbart News observed Abbott signing constitutional carry into law, making Texas the 21st constitutional carry state in the Union.

The other 20 states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

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 and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.