During Friday night’s Texas gubernatorial debate, Beto O’Rourke refused to say whether he plans on confiscating Texans’ AR-15 rifles.
The moderator noted that Beto has espoused different positions on confiscation.
During the September 2019 debate for Democrat presidential hopefuls, O’Rouke said, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.”
But on February 9, 2022, Beto told supporters in Tyler, Texas, he is “not interested in taking anything from anyone.”
On Friday night, the moderator asked O’Rourke which position was current: would he be confiscating AR-15s or not?
O’Rourke answered by talking about all the gun control plans to pursue: raising the legal age to buy a long gun from 18 to 21, instituting a red flag law, and passing universal background checks. He did not address confiscation.
So the moderator doubled back, saying, “Just to be clear, yes or no, are you for confiscating AR-15-sytle weapons?”
O’Rourke again refused to answer the question, instead saying, “I am for making sure that we make progress.”
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. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.