Chipper Jones: ‘There Is No Reason for Americans to Own Assault Rifles’

Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones says that Americans should not be allowed to own “assault rifles.”

A columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was tipped to Jones’ controversial opinion and put the question to the former player, asking him what he thought of guns today and the many mass shootings that have been perpetrated across the nation.

“I believe in our Constitutional right to bear arms and protect ourselves,” Jones told columnist Jeff Schultz. “But I do not believe there is any need for civilians to own assault rifles. I just don’t.”

Jones insisted that banning certain guns is “like” the war against drugs.

“I would like to see something (new legislation) happen. I liken it to drugs – you’re not going to get rid of all the guns. But AR-15s and AK-47s and all this kind of stuff – they belong in the hands of soldiers,” Jones said. “Those belong in the hands of people who know how to operate them, and whose lives depend on them operating them. Not with civilians. I have no problem with hunting rifles and shotguns and pistols and what-not. But I’m totally against civilians having those kinds of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.”

The columnist didn’t ask Jones to describe or define what the term “assault weapon” actually means.

Jones went on to claim that a hike in the age to buy a weapon is a good idea.

“Some people will scoff at that, but that’s a big (age) difference,” he said of raising the age for purchasing a weapon to 21. “Kids grow up a lot in those three years.”

The columnist didn’t ask Jones why we should expect an 18-year-old to be mature enough to vote or join the military but can’t be mature enough to own and operate a firearm.

Jones also jumped into the political fray criticizing President Trump’s idea to arm those teachers who wish to be trained for the capability to carry arms in schools.

“If you want to up school security with people who’ve been through police training and know what it’s like to draw your weapon when your life is threatened, know when to pull the trigger and when not to, that’s one thing,” Jones exclaimed. “But I would venture to say that if you polled all of the teachers in America, it would be way over 90 percent who would say no,”

The columnist went on to claim that the AR-15 was meant “only for the military” but did not note that the same AR-15 that can be outfitted to look like a military weapon is the same basic weapon that many use for hunting. Nor did he mention that no army in the world uses the AR-15 as an infantry weapon.

Jones went on to say he suggests people should stop hunting with guns. He uses a bow and arrow because “It’s safer and it’s more sporty.”

The former player closed his interview falsely claiming that “automatic weapons” need to be eliminated.

“What is going on here in Florida with the protests and people really stepping up to try to make things happen is a good thing,” Jones concluded. “It’s always good for there to be open discussion. Hopefully if we can keep those high-powered automatic weapons out of civilian’s hands, the Las Vegases and the Columbines and what happened here in Florida will start to dwindle.”

The player, though, is wrong. No “automatic weapons” have been used in any of these crimes. Automatic weapons are tightly regulated and are unavailable to the general public without strict controls. Machine guns are essentially already banned.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.