A House Republican and Army veteran who favors a ban on AR-15 style guns said Monday that easy access to these weapons is not making the U.S. safer, and said a ban on future sales is needed.
“My community, my country is not safer with this unfettered access of anybody that’s 18 years or older having access to this platform,” Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said on MSNBC.
Mast, who lost both his legs working as part of a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said he had access to a similar weapon in the Army because of the damage it could do to the enemy. But he said similar weapons shouldn’t be widely available in the U.S.
“The Army put this weapon in my hands because it was the best weapon to go out there and kill on the battlefield in the most dangerous country on Earth,” he said. “That’s why they put it in my hands.”
Mast wrote about the need to ban AR-15 style weapons in the New York Times last week, but said Monday he’s not talking about confiscating weapons people already have.
“I’m not a proponent for going into anybody’s home and confiscating,” he said. “We’re not Russia under Stalin, or China under Mao Zedong or Cuba under Castro.”
“That’s not who we are. We’re talking about future sales here,” Mast said.
