Democrats know “virtually nothing” about the firearms they seek to ban, according to Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, who called out House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler for his ignorance on the subject earlier this week.
On Tuesday, during a House Rules Committee hearing on Democrat-led legislation to restrict law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment rights, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) asked Nadler what the “AR” in AR-15 stands for.
“Just for the record, any commercial firearm purchase requires a background check, that’s the current state of the law,” Reschenthaler stated. “So with that being said, Chairman Nadler, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but do you know what the ‘AR’ in ‘AR-15’ stands for?”
“It stands for ‘assault rifle,’” the New York congressman replied.
“So that’s not [correct],” Reschenthaler said, calling on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie to answer instead, to which the latter correctly responded, “ArmaLite, the original manufacturer.”
Recalling his service in the Navy, Reschenthaler explained how the AR platform differed from that of the M-16.
“But it’s still an assault rifle,” Nadler insisted.
Reschenthaler, who served in the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps and volunteered for duty in Iraq, expressed his disagreement with the characterization, explaining that “with an M-4 and M-16 there’s a function for fully-automatic fire, also three-round burst,” whereas with an AR-15 “there’s no such function because it’s a firearm for public sales, not military sales.”
“So I would say to call it an ‘assault rifle’ is actually a mischaracterization of the platform and it just conflates two different guns that look similar but have very different functions,” he said.
In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News following the Democrat-led House passing of gun control measures on Thursday, the congressman began by declaring his determination to stand up for the right of Americans to defend themselves.
“As a gun owner and staunch defender of the Second Amendment, I will always fight the left’s attempts to deny us our right to protect ourselves and our families,” he stated.
He also blamed Democrats for overlooking the “root causes” of violence while pushing for futile measures.
“Instead of working with Republicans to address the root causes of mass violence, Democrats are pushing a radical gun grab agenda that will strip away law-abiding citizens’ rights and do nothing to prevent tragedies from taking place in the future,” he said.
Reschenthaler concluded by calling attention to the ignorance and hypocrisy of Democrats on the issue.
“Chairman Nadler proved that Democrats know virtually nothing about the firearms they wish to ban, and even worse — many congressional Democrats enjoy private security details armed with the same weapons they want to ban,” he said.
“We need to harden schools, support mental health care, expand information sharing, and promote firearm safety and training — not curtail the rights of law-abiding citizens,” he added.
His statement comes as Democrats passed a gun control package that contains six gun controls that would not have prevented the May 24, 2022, Uvalde, Texas mass shooting.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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