Chris Murphy: ‘No One Needs a Semiautomatic Rifle’ for Home Defense

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is pushing a ban on AR-15s and similar firearms under the guise that “no one needs a semiautomatic rifle” for home defense.

Of course, homeowners who face criminals that are armed with semiautomatic rifles might beg to differ.

Murphy tweeted:

Nobody needs an AR-15 to hunt.

Nobody needs a semi-automatic rifle to defend their home.

But mass shooters NEED these weapons in order to murder as many people as efficiently as possible.

And so nobody will miss them when they are illegal – except for the killers.

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 16, 2019

Consider three of the most egregious aspects of Murphy’s claims:

1. “No one needs an AR-15 to hunt” — This 180 degrees from ATF Deputy Director Ronald Turk’s emphasis that AR-15s have become a standard platform for hunting. On January 20, 2017, the Washington Post published a “White Paper” wherein Turk wrote, “The use of AR-15s, AK-style, and similar rifles now commonly referred to as ‘modern sporting rifles’ has increased exponentially in sport shooting. These firearm types are now standard for hunting activities. ATF could re-examine its 20-year-old study to bring it up to date with the sport shooting landscape of today, which is vastly different than it was years ago.”
2. Murphy suggests “semiautomatic rifles” are not needed for home defense — On May 28, 2017, Breitbart News reported that an Oklahoma homeowner’s son was home alone and outnumbered 3-to-1 by home invaders. He was able to level the playing field by retrieving an AR-15, which he used to kill all three invaders in self-defense. On August 19, 2018, Breitbart News reported that two Glen St. Mary, Florida, residents turned the tide on seven home invasion suspects by opening fire with an AR-15 and a 9mm handgun. One of the invaders was killed and the others fled–or crawled away–amid shots fired in self-defense.
3. Murphy says mass shooters “need” semiautomatic rifles to carry out their heinous acts — In reality, mass shooters just need a gun free zone. Such a zone gives them the benefit of time wherein they can use any kind of gun they want to take innocent lives at their pace. The Virgnia Tech gunman (April 16, 2007) killed 32 using only handguns. He had the benefit of knowing that none of his victims could shoot back.

On March 11, 2019, Breitbart News reported that Murphy cited the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack during a push for gun control that would not have prevented that attack from occurring. Murphy was pushing for criminalization of private gun sales, but the Sandy Hook attacker stole his guns. So no amount of point-of-sale regulations would have impacted him.

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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.