Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he’s open to raising the age for purchasing semi-automatic rifles to 21.
After a deadly weekend of mass shootings in the United States, Manchin shared his views on gun restrictions, including a willingness to consider a ban on so-called assault weapons.
AT LEAST 15 DEAD AND MORE THAN 60 INJURED AFTER WEEKEND OF MASS SHOOTINGS
“It depends on what they, how they would approach it. I’m open to anything that makes gun sense,” Manchin said in reference to legislation regulating the sale of firearms.
Manchin, a centrist Democrat from deep-red West Virginia, insisted he is not anti-gun but did not believe such high-capacity AR-15-style weapons were necessary for civilians to own.
The Senate is evenly divided, and there is still a great deal of GOP resistance to major gun restrictions. Any reforms brought to the floor face the prospect of a filibuster, which has a 60-vote threshold to overcome. President Joe Biden voiced support last week for raising the age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 if a ban could not be agreed upon.
Manchin told me that a final deal should include two things: Raising the age to 21 for purchasing semi-automatic weapons and standards for state red flag laws. He’s also open to an assault weapons ban. On people needing AR-15s? “I never felt I needed something of that magnitude.” pic.twitter.com/GYUlx1Nhkp
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 6, 2022
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“I never thought I had a need for that type of a high-capacity automatic weapon,” Manchin said. “I like to shoot, I like to go out and hunt. I like to go out sports shooting. I do all of that. But I’ve never felt I needed something of that magnitude.”
Manchin is part of a small bipartisan group of senators, led on the Democratic side by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), working for a compromise on gun reforms. The Democratic and Republican senators have suggested that an AR-15 ban, which President Joe Biden has called for, is not being discussed.
The bipartisan group is examining red flags laws, which allow for guns to be taken away from people who are deemed dangerous to themselves or others. Other areas of focus include increasing funding for school security and mental health.
