Beto O’Rourke and Pete Buttigieg Battle Over Confiscating Assault Weapons

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/us/politics/beto-guns.html

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Is it enough to ban the sale of assault weapons or should existing owners also be required to relinquish them under the threat of consequences? The question generated a heated exchange between former Representative Beto O’Rourke of Texas and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., at Tuesday’s Democratic debate.

Mr. O’Rourke accused Mr. Buttigieg of failing to dream big enough, while Mr. Buttigieg accused Mr. O’Rourke of sabotaging a rare opportunity to pass new gun laws.

Mr. O’Rourke’s hard-line position on gun control has become a central element of his campaign. During the third Democratic presidential debate in Houston last month, he offered up an unapologetic defense of a mandatory buyback program for assault weapons. “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” he said.

His wording in Tuesday’s debate was somewhat more measured. “If someone does not turn in an AR-15 or AK-47, one of these weapons of war, or brings it out in public to brandish and intimidate, as we saw in Kent State recently, then that weapon will be taken from them,” he said, referring to several protesters who took rifles to a rally he held in Ohio last month.

Mr. Buttigieg responded with skepticism. “Congressman, you just made it clear you don’t know how this is actually going to take weapons off the streets,” he said.

“We can’t wait for purity tests, we have to just get something done,” he added.

Mr. O’Rourke was unmoved. “We must buy them back,” he said. He also implied that he didn’t think it would be difficult to get gun owners to comply. “I believe in this country; I believe in my fellow Americans. I believe they will do the right thing,” he said.

Mr. Buttigieg hit back again, “We are this close to an assault weapons ban. That would be huge.” To get fixated on “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your guns,” would sacrifice that, he said.

Mr. O’Rourke’s stance on gun control was shaped in part by a mass shooting on Aug. 3 in his hometown, El Paso. Twenty-two people were killed, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in United States history.