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Beto O`Rourke on Gun Control
Democratic candidate for President; Texas Senator nominee
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No door-to-door enforcement, but reduce weapons of war
Q: In the last debate you said, "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47." But you said police wouldn't be going door to door. So how exactly are you going to force people to give up their weapons? O'Rourke: AR-15s and AK-47s are weapons
of war, designed to kill people efficiently on a battlefield. 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're also too dangerous to own.
Q: Your website says you will find people who don't give up their weapons. Exactly how are you going to take away weapons from people who do not want to give them up?
O'Rourke: If someone does not turn in an AR-15 or an
AK-47, or brings it out in public and brandishes it, then that weapon will be taken from them. If they persist, there will be other consequences from law enforcement. But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
, Oct 15, 2019
Ok to confiscate guns that are designed for battlefields
Q: You've said "Americans who own AR-15s and AK-47s will have to sell them to the government, all of them." You're for confiscation?O'ROURKE: I am, if it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield. If the high velocity round shreds
everything inside of your body, because it was designed to do that, so that you would bleed to death on a battlefield and not be able to get up and kill one of our soldiers. When we see that being used against children shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and
Midland, there weren't enough ambulances to get to them in time, hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.
The day after I proposed doing that, I went to a gun show to meet with those who were selling AR-15s and AK-47s and those who were
buying those weapons. And you might be surprised, there was some common ground there, folks who said, "I would willingly give that up; I don't need this weapon to hunt, to defend myself. It is a weapon of war."
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
Death in El Paso due to a gun that should not be legal
On August 3rd, a racism and violence that had long been a part of America was welcomed out into the open and directed to my hometown of El Paso,
Texas, where 22 people were killed, dozens more grievously injured by a man carrying a weapon he should never have been able to buy in the first place.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston
, Sep 12, 2019
Money buys influence, access, and outcomes
How else can we explain that we lose nearly 40,000 people in this country to gun violence, a number that no other country comes close to. We know what the solutions are, and yet nothing has changed. It is because money buys influence, access, and,
increasingly, outcomes. The Center for Disease Control prevented from actually studying the issue in the first place. We will make sure that we ban political action committee contributions to any member of Congress or candidate for federal office.
Source: July Democratic Primary debate (first night in Detroit)
, Jul 30, 2019
Voluntary buyback for assault weapons, plus a ban
Beto O`Rourke on Assault Weapons: Support a voluntary buyback program.FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE SIMILAR VIEWS: Steve Bullock; Peter Buttigieg; Julian Castro; Tim Ryan; Andrew Yang.
Former Rep. Beto O`Rourke supports an assault weapons
ban, writing in an op-ed in The Houston Chronicle that such firearms "should remain on the battlefield where they belong." A campaign spokesperson told POLITICO that O`Rourke also supports a voluntary federal buyback program for assault weapons.
Source: Politico "2020Dems on the Issues"
, Jul 17, 2019
Weapons of war belong on battlefield, not in our communities
Q: You're a Texan who's campaigned all over the state. What do you tell a gun owner who says the Democrats are going to take my gun away, how do you have that conversation?
O`Rourke: We talked about ending the sales of assault weapons into our communities. Those weapons of war were designed to kill people as effectively and as efficiently as possible. They should belong on the battlefield and not in our communities.
Red flag laws, so if someone poses a danger to themselves or to someone else, they're stopped before it's too late.
And what I found is that Democrats and independents and Republicans, gun-owners and non-gun-owners alike, agreed.
Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
, Jun 26, 2019
We need to stop listening to NRA and gun lobby
Democrats have largely converged on a moderate, consensus view of gun control; we wanted to get at a deeper question of values--so we asked "In an ideal world, would anyone own handguns?" Some answers:- Beto O'Rourke, Former congressman from
Texas: "In an ideal world, we would listen to people instead of political action committees and the gun lobby and the NRA."
- John Hickenlooper, Former governor of Colorado: "Study after study shows that having a handgun, in most cases, makes you less
safe, not more."
- Juli n Castro, Former housing secretary: "In an ideal world, people would not own handguns."
- Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey: "As president of the United States, I'm going to bring a fight to this problem like folks have
never seen before."
- Kamala Harris, Senator from California: "We need to be practical on this. We need to pass smart gun safety laws."
- Bill de Blasio, NYC Mayor: "In the ideal world, gun ownership would be treated very, very differently."
Source: 2019 "Meet the Candidates" (NY Times.com)
, Jun 18, 2019
Background checks; limit assault rifles
O'Rourke has called for universal background checks and limits on the sale of AR-15s.
He opposes requiring states to recognize concealed carry permits granted in other states.
Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
, Apr 29, 2019
Supports Second Amendment with sensible gun laws
I strongly support the Second Amendment. I don't want to take yours or anyone else's guns. We lose 30,000 of our fellow Americans every year to gun violence. No developed country even comes close.
We can start with areas where there is extraordinary common ground like universal background checks. We need someone who could not care less about what the NRA or the gun lobby or any other political action committee thinks.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Oct 18, 2018
Universal background checks; ban assault weapons
Q: Support more restrictive gun control legislation?Ted Cruz (R): No. Led fight not to ban assault weapons.
Calls gun control efforts "tiresome."
Beto O'Rourke (D): Yes. Supports universal background checks & banning assault-style weapons.
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Texas Senate race
, Oct 9, 2018
Supports common sense gun laws
I think closing all background check loopholes would be a great place to start. That is universally popular in this country. It makes so much obvious sense that it's hard to believe Congress has been unable to act on that.
That goes to show you the power of the NRA. I would like to see the Centers for Disease Control have the ability to study gun violence, which they are prohibited from doing today.That again shows Congress' capture by a narrow interest group.
Source: El Paso Inc. on 2018 Texas Senate race
, Jul 18, 2016
O`Rourke supports the CC survey question on Second Amendment
The Christian Coalition Voter Guide inferred whether candidates agree or disagree with the statement, 'Further Restrictions on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms'
Christian Coalition's self-description: "Christian Voter Guide is a clearing-house for traditional, pro-family voter guides. We do not create voter guides, nor do we interview or endorse candidates."
Source: Christian Coalition Surve 18CC-10 on Jul 1, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 15, 2019