Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke. Gage Skidmore.
Some Democrats are pushing back against Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke's plan to confiscate AR-15's and AK-47's. The Hill. These Democrats say that the GOP and gun groups will be able to fund raise off of him. The NRA has already declared the former congressman the AR-15 salesman of the month. The proposal has also damaged proposals for stricter gun control, such as bans on private sales or "Red Flag" laws. Senate Minority leader Charles "Chuck" Schumer dismissed the plan saying he did not know any other Democrats who agreed with it. Senator Joe Manchin was a lot more vocal saying that O'Rourke wasn't going to take his guns away.
My Comment:
This isn't really new news, but there wasn't much else going on. The backlash against O'Rourke's statements at the debate was immediate and hasn't abated at all. O'Rourke has been bashed by both sides of the political spectrum for his plan to confiscate AR-15's and AK-47's. It's not suprising that the Democrats are almost as mad about it as the Republicans.
I think in a few cases the disagreement is genuine. Joe Manchin's objections seem legitimate as he has always been one of the more reasonable Democrats. And more than a few people I know in real life who generally vote for Democrats were enraged by O'Rourke's plan as they feel taking people's guns away is horrific, even if they do want more gun control laws in general.
But I think in many other cases the objection is a question of tactics and timing. There are many people on the left, including Chuck Schumer, who hate private gun ownership and don't respect the 2nd amendment but are furious with O'Rourke.
Why? Because they had an opportunity to pass some invasive and damaging gun laws and it seems likely that O'Rourke torpedoed them. There were many Republicans who were under pressure to "do something" after recent mass shootings but they just got the perfect excuse to not betray their constituents.
As a gun rights supporter I think I should almost thank O'Rourke. He absolutely poisoned the well for new gun control laws nationally. He revealed what the Democrats really want and will ensure that any attempts at national gun control laws will be pushed back against.
I also think that he has galvanized gun rights groups. The NRA in particular has been scandal prone lately and many gun owners are questioning why they are even supporting an organization that is so poorly run. With O'Rourke pretty much confirming everyone's worst fears about the Democrats, the NRA has a nice distraction and fundraising opportunity.
The gun control push that was started with the most recent mass shootings is probably dead now. The environment O'Rourke created isn't going to help things. I am sure the Democrats think that O'Rourke was incredibly selfish as he completely torpedoed their chances to pass new gun laws.
And he did it for basically no reason. O'Rourke was fading in the polls and was an afterthought in the 2020 primaries. He wanted to create a lane for himself and I think he did but he doesn't have a realistic chance of winning. He basically killed gun control for the recent future all because he was too proud to drop out of the race like he should have.
To be fair though, I do think it's kind of frustrating that O'Rourke is the only one getting blame and criticism here. Many of the other 2020 candidates support a gun buyback and at the very least Kamala Harris has said she would make it mandatory. O'Rourke's beliefs aren't super uncommon among the Democrats but the media is making it sound like only he is off the reservation. I think that's off base and the entire party deserves criticism when it comes to gun rights.
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