Beto O’Rourke said the key enforcement mechanism for his proposed AR-15 confiscation is a belief that the American people will participate.
During the fourth round of Democratic presidential debates, O’Rourke was asked how he would deliver on a promise he made during the last round of debates to confiscate “weapons of war” from American gun owners given that it is unknown how many guns are in the country and who owns them.
CNN host Anderson Cooper noted that O’Rourke has promised to fine gun owners who don’t participate in a mandatory buyback but asked how he could ensure that all AR-15s and similar weapons were off the streets, as he has promised police would not be going “door-to-door.”
O’Rourke claimed those who brandish their weapons will face legal action, but most, he believes, will be turned over from Americans.
“If someone does not turn in an AR-15 or an AK-47, one of these weapons of war, or brings it out in public to brandishes it in an attempt to intimidate, as we saw when we were at Kent State recently, then that weapon will be taken from them. If they persist, there will be other consequences from law enforcement,” said O’Rourke.
He continued, “But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law. I believe in this country. I believe in my fellow Americans. I believe that they will do the right thing.”
O’Rourke also used the debate stage to go after his fellow Democrats who have called for a ban on the sales of AR-15s but have stopped short of calling for a full ownership ban.
“So if the logic begins with those weapons being too dangerous to sell, then it must continue by acknowledging with 16 million AR-15s and AK-47s out there, they are also too dangerous to own,” said O’Rourke.
