Former congressman Beto O’Rourke’s vow to take AR-15s from gun owners appears to represent a stark reversal from his failed Senate run last year.
At Thursday night’s Democratic presidential debate, O’Rourke was pressed by ABC’s “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir about whether he was proposing “taking away” guns from lawful gun owners. He said he was, specifically weapons “designed to kill people on a battlefield.”
“When we see that being used against children and in Odessa, I met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15. And that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and Midland. There weren’t enough ambulances to get to them in time,” he said. O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso also was the scene of a recent mass shooting.
He then vowed, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore!”
His campaign has even produced a shirt with the slogan.
Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15.
Buy your shirt now: https://t.co/kEJxoLvfH5 pic.twitter.com/KKpAKX4IL8
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
Mississippi law could create statewide registry of undocumented immigrants
Marine missing from USS Anchorage now focus of recovery mission off California coast
Lawsuit filed after tree dubbed ‘Widow Maker’ fatally crushes man at Texas BBQ restaurant
Jacob Frey praises Somali community as Minnesota faces renewed scrutiny over fraud investigations
Trump calls likely DC mayor Janeese Lewis George a ‘communist’ and vows to block her agenda
Trump: Renovations to DC’s East Potomac Golf Links begin in September
Top Democrat lawmaker suffers minor injuries in Delaware car crash
Pollster Stands By Rejected Survey Showing Struggling Democrat in Single Digits That He Released Anyway
Doctor Pushing Puberty Blockers on Teen Boy Was Charged With Possessing Child Porn
Sisters, friend charged in Texas mom’s stabbing death
The Swamp’s Got Another Bright Idea, and It Could End Up Hosing Every American Who Drives
SCOTUS Showdown Over Gun Suppressors Looms After Appeals Court Creates ‘Circuit Split’
Punk Allegedly Pulls Pistol on Workmen, Ends up Tied to Front Porch to Make Police Pickup Quick and Easy
Soft-On-Crime Socialist Set To Run Nation’s Capital Ravaged By Teen Takeovers
What to know about the July Fourth celebrations in DC
However, O’Rourke had a much different stance when he was running for Senate. During an interview on “The Chad Hasty Show” in April 2018, the host asked: “I own an AR-15. A lot of our listeners out there own AR-15s. Why should they not have one?”
“To be clear, they should have them,” O’Rourke responded. “If you purchased that AR-15, if you own it, keep it. Continue to use it responsibly.”
He added later in the same interview: “If you own a gun, keep that gun. Nobody wants to take it away from you — at least I don’t want to do that.”
Since O’Rourke’s run for Senate, there have been several mass shootings in the U.S., including in El Paso, which he has said has changed his view on gun control.
Source: Fox News
