Sen. Chris Coons said while he appreciates former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s passion on the issue of guns, it remains to be seen if O’Rourke did more harm than good when he said he was going to confiscate AR-15s during Thursday’s Democratic primary debate.
Coons told CNN on Friday he does not support mandatory confiscation of AR-15s.
“And I, frankly, think that that clip will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations that try to scare people by saying, ‘Democrats are coming for your guns,'” Coons said of O’Rourke’s comment.
“I’m a gun owner. My sons and I have gone skeet shooting and hunting and, frankly, I don’t think having our presidential candidates, like Congressman O’Rourke did, say that we’re going to try and take people’s guns against their will is a wise either policy or political move” he added.
CNN anchor Poppy Harlow asked the Delaware Democrat if O’Rourke hurt the party with his call to action.
“We’ll have to see. I respect his passion. Anyone who has had to sit with the parents of victims of gun violence, parents who have lost their children, as I have, after the Sandy Hook shooting, after the Tucson shooting, parents … to sit with a parent who has lost a child and have no answer about how we’re going to make the country safer is a very hard experience. So I respect what is motivating Congressman O’Rourke, but I don’t think as a policy position that’s going to stand muster,” Coons replied.
During Thursday night’s debate, O’Rourke said, “If the high-impact, high-velocity round when it hits your body shreds everything inside of your body because it was designed to do that … Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47, we’re not going to allow it to be used on fellow Americans anymore.”
When asked on Friday if the confiscation would be voluntary, O’Rourke told MSNBC it would be mandatory.
O’Rourke later responded to Coons, tweeting that while he respects the senator, “the time for letting status quo politics determine how far we can go is over. If we agree that having millions of weapons of war on the streets is a bad idea, we have to do something about it.”
Much respect to Sen. Coons for leading the fight on background checks. But the time for letting status quo politics determine how far we can go is over. If we agree that having millions of weapons of war on the streets is a bad idea, we have to do something about it. https://t.co/xf8tdKrMBJ
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
