Beto O’Rourke in 2018: Americans ‘Should Have’ AR-15s, ‘If You Purchased That AR-15, If You Own It, Keep It’

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Sep 13, 2019

Former Texas U.S. Rep Beto O’Rourke stole the headlines during last night’s Democratic presidential debate when he boasted that if he was elected Preisdent, he would take rifles such as the AR-15 and AK-47 from law-abiding gun owners through unconstitutional government force.

“I am, if it’s a weapon that’s designed to kill people on a battlefield. If the high impact, high velocity round shreds everything inside of your body. … When we see that being used against children,” O’Rourke said during the debate, when asked if he really wanted to confiscate AR-15’s and AK-47’s.

“Hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore,” he added.

However, O’Rourke had the opposite stance just last year when he was posing as a moderate in his attempt to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz. O’Rourke explicitly stated he had no problem with law-abiding gun owners possessing AR-15s during an appearance on “The Chad Hasty Show” on 790 KFYO while he was running for Senate.

“To be clear they should have them, if you purchased that AR-15, if you own it, keep it, continue to use it responsibly,” O’Rourke said of so-called assault rifles in 2018.

O’Rourke, once considered the rising star of the Democratic Party, has failed to gain any traction as a presidential candidate. He has stayed near 1 percent in the polls throughout his fledgling campaign, and left-wing pollster Nate Silver has indicated he has virtually zero chance of winning the nomination.

“Lots of candidates have hoped to come back from polling in the low single digits to win their nominations, and almost none of them have done it,” Silver explained.

“A somewhat larger group have emerged as factors in races that they ultimately didn’t win — Rick Santorum in 2012, for example — but elections aren’t something where close really counts. Nor are any of these candidates polling especially well in Iowa or New Hampshire, which is the path that dark-horse candidates (such as Carter or Santorum) usually take to enter the top tier,” he added.

O’Rourke has gotten more media attention since exploiting the mass shooting in his home town of El Paso, TX to gain headlines, and subsequently strengthening his gun control stance. However, this has not helped his campaign at all, according to Silver’s analysis.

“O’Rourke saw a spike in media attention following the mass shooting in his home town of El Paso, Texas, and his support in polls didn’t move much after that, either,” Silver said.

O’Rourke’s flip-flopping is not likely to help his presidential chances, and his extreme position on gun confiscation may backfire. O’Rourke’s irresponsible rhetoric will serve to galvanize Republicans by proving them correct in their assertion that Democrats are coming to destroy the 2nd Amendment and seize guns from law-abiding Americans.

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