Beto Tries to Backtrack

“Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15,” said Beto O’Rourke (D) from the stage of a presidential primary debate in September 2019. He suspended his campaign for president just over a month later.

Now, he’s backtracking on the very issue he made a cornerstone of his presidential campaign. “I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone. What I want to make sure that we do is defend the Second Amendment,” said O’Rourke from a stop on his gubernatorial campaign in Tyler, Texas.

“I want to make sure that we protect our fellow Texans far better than we’re doing right now and that we listen to law enforcement, which Greg Abbott refused to do. He turned his back on them when he signed that permitless carry bill that endangers the lives of law enforcement in a state that’s seen more cops and sheriff’s deputies gunned down than in any other,” he said.

So Beto sees constitutional carry—your right to defend yourself—as problematic. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed constitutional carry into law last year in the Lone Star State, and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre was in attendance. The reality is that constitutional carry simply gets government out of the way of a constitutional right. This doesn’t mean that prohibited persons can carry; they still can’t legally carry. Beto clearly does not understand or appreciate any of this.

Beto’s ignorance demonstrates that this attempt at an about face on the Second Amendment is empty campaign rhetoric. For someone Joe Biden (D) said would “take care of the gun problem” with him, it’s hard to put much stock in these recent statements.

Of course, we can’t forget when Beto said gun owners have a “death cult mentality,” or when he gave us his “hell, yes” proclamation about seizing popular, semi-automatic rifles. Also, in 2019, he demanded that banks and other financial institutions stop doing business with manufacturers of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms.

Only a fool would believe Beto doesn’t want to “take anything from anyone” when he’s spent years saying exactly the opposite.