The shifting sands of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s gun control plans have solidified, for now, into a pledge to buy back AR-15s and AK-47s from Texans if the state legislature will support doing it.
O’Rourke spoke with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith on Saturday and KVUE reported O’Rourke’s comments.
Smith asked O’Rourke to clarify his position on confiscatory gun control.
O’Rourke stressed his belief that citizens should not be able to buy a AR-15s, then said: “And if I can find the consensus within the Legislature to have a law in the state of Texas that allows us to buy those AK-47s and AR-15s back, we will.”
He has been down this road many times before.
Here is a timeline of O’Rourke’s confiscatory gun control statements:
- September 12, 2019, he stood on stage at a Democrat presidential primary and said, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.”
- As a Democrat gubernatorial candidate in early February 2022, O’Rourke actually talked of defending the Second Amendment.
- On February 8, 2022, KLTV noted O’Rourke’s apparent abandonment of his confiscatory plans by quoting him saying, “I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone.”
- But on March 12, 2022, O’Rourke returned to his confiscatory position, pledging to buy back Texans’ AR-15s and AK-47s if the state legislature will support it.
O’Rourke also used the conversation with Smith as an opportunity to criticize constitutional carry.
Texas is one of 22 states that do not require residents to get government permission, via a permit, before exercising their right to bear arms. The other 21 states are: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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 and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.