# Beto O'Rourke's Bold Statement on Gun Control: 'Hell Yes' He Wants to Take Your AR-15



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Beto O'Rourke took a strong stand against assault weapons during the third Democratic debate on Thursday night-following a series of mass shootings, including one in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.

When asked by ABC moderator David Muir to confirm that he planned to mandate that Americans sell their guns, the former Texas congressman responded, "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," O'Rourke said.

Unlike the other candidates, who have advocated banning the further sale of assault weapons, O'Rourke's plan involves confiscating such weapons under a forced buyback program. Government confiscation of firearms has long been a bogeyman for many gun rights advocates-eliciting comparisons to Nazi Germany and other authoritarian regimes.

O'Rourke, in the debate, said that weapons "designed to kill people on a battlefield" must go, but that he feels both Republicans and Democrats should be included in the conversation about how to eliminate them.
"If the high-impact, high-velocity round, when it hits your body, shreds everything inside of your body, because it was designed to do that, so you would bleed to death on a battlefield. Not be able to get up and kill one of our soldiers," O'Rourke said.

"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 an AR-15 in Odessa and Midland, there weren't enough ambulances to get to them in time. Hell yes. We're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against fellow Americans anymore."

O'Rourke's comments appeared to immediately galvanize people on both sides of the gun debate.

A Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain responded to O'Rourke on Twitter, writing, "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis."

Beto O'Rourke's Twitter account sent out a screenshot of the tweet, writing, "This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15-and neither should anyone else."

At the same time, O'Rourke's team signaled that the debate had given O'Rourke a boost. Rob Flaherty, O'Rourke's digital director, tweeted shortly before the debate ended that O'Rourke had the "best hour of fundraising this quarter." After another hour, he tweeted again, "this hour was better."
By most accounts, AR-15-style rifles are now are the most popular rifles in America, with some sales representing 60% of all rifles sold in the U.S. and some 15 million in civilian hands.
The National Rifle Association was quick to point this out in a tweet minutes after O'Rourke's comments at the debate. "Banning commonly-owned rifles used lawfully by millions of Americans everyday is not the answer," the NRA tweeted.
Such weapons have also been used in many of the highest-profile mass shootings in recent years.

O'Rourke actually introduced the plan last month, writing in a _USA Today _op-ed that, "On this issue, Americans are more connected than we might imagine. We need to stop making assumptions and writing one another off, because only by coming together and finding common ground can we finally meet this moment, and start saving lives."

O'Rourke has made strengthening gun control laws one of the central focuses of his campaign since Aug. 3, when a gunman killed 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso. He returned to the city soon after the shooting expressed his grief for the victims and to call for gun-control legislation. The gunman used an AK-47-style assault rifle, according to police.
O'Rourke mentioned the shooting during both his opening and closing statements during the third Democratic Debate.

O'Rourke's Twitter account backed up his message during the debate, sending out tweets calling for assault weapon buybacks. The account tweeted an image of an assault weapon with a grenade launcher-something that's illegal for civilians to own-with the phrase "Beto has a ban for _that_"-a riff on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's "I have a plan for that."








Any attempt of a seizure would not end well...


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## kdk240 (Nov 7, 2002)

I'd be happy to get rid of a couple of ARS. For what I put into them. Always willing to make a little cash. But I'll be damned if anybody's going to take my guns. Or my constitutional right away. Someday maybe the demorats will realize they are the problem in this land.


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## AB7 (Feb 12, 2019)

This man should be running for President. Not Beto.


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## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Step 1: Elect. For a gun-free America, the first thing you'll need is two-thirds of Congress. So elect a minimum of 67 Senators and 290 Representatives who are on your side.

Step 2: Propose. Then, have them vote to propose an amendment to the Constitution which repeals Second Amendment gun rights for all Americans.

Step 3: Ratify. Then convince the legislators of 38 states to ratify that change. At this point, the Second Amendment is history, but you've done nothing to decrease gun violence. All you've done is remove the barrier for Congress to act.

Step 4: Legislate. You need to enact "common sense" reform. You can try to do what Australia did and...ban all guns? That's not at all what they did, but whatever, fuck it. Go big or go home, right? It will have to be passed by Congress and signed by the president. Great! The law is passed and guns are now illegal. The only thing left to do is...

Step 5: Enforce. Guns won't just disappear because you passed a law. You need to confiscate some 350 million guns scattered among 330 Million Americans. Sure, you can try a buy-back program like Australia, but like Australia that will still leave behind anywhere from 60 percent to 80 percent of privately owned firearms.

...The rest you have to take. You'll need the police, the FBI, the ATF or the National Guard-all known for their nuanced approach to potentially dangerous situations-to go door-to-door, through 3.8 million square miles of this country and take guns, by force, from thousands, if not, millions of well-armed individuals. Many of whom would rather start a civil war than acquiesce. So inevitably gun violence, which is currently at a historic low, will skyrocket.

But that is how you get a gun-free America in five easy steps.


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

Opportunistic piece of garbage perpetuating MYTHS by saying "Hell yes!" he's "going to take your (mine) AR-15." Take *MY* AR-15 from *ME?* Yeah, That will make the world a safer place, because criminals follow laws, comply with licensing/training/safety requirements, submit to background checks, and surrender their firearms after their first felony convictions..................
What Phukkin World does this idiot live in?


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## Truck (Apr 3, 2006)

At least he upfront about what he wants to do. Everyone else on that stage has the same ultimate goal but won't say it.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Confiscation has always been their plan.

" Common Sense gun laws" was a lie they kept telling over and over again. 

If he's such a tough guy let's see him send home his secret service detail


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