I double dog dare ya, Beto!
Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, wielded an AR-15 rifle in his office and dared former Vice President Joe Biden and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke to “come and take it” in a jaw-dropping video posted online Friday.
“I have a message for Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke, if you want to take everyone’s AR-15s in America, why don’t you swing by my office in Washington, D.C. and start with this one……. Come and take it.
Rep. Ken Buck
Republican, Colorado
Buck’s office called Biden and O’Rourke “the gun-grabbing duo.”
The video of Buck with the rifle, which was wrapped in an American flag design, was in response to O’Rourke’s stance against high-powered assault rifles being in civilian hands, and Biden’s reference earlier this week that he would tap O’Rourke to help him “take care of the gun problem.”
Buck’s office noted that O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination last year, had said in a Democratic debate, “hell yes we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”
Before he made that comment, O’Rourke had been asked at the debate whether he proposed to take away those types of weapons.
“I am if it is a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield; if they high impact high velocity round when it hits your body 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.”
Beto O’Rourke
“I want to make something clear — I’m gonna guarantee you, this is not the last you’re seeing of this guy [O’Rourke]— you’re gonna take care of the gun problem with me, you’re gonna be the one who leads this effort.”
Joe Biden
O’Rourke fired back at Buck on Twitter on Friday, writing: “This guy makes the case for both an assault weapons ban and a mandatory buyback program better than I ever could.”
“These are weapons of war that have no place in our communities, in our politics or in our public discourse.”
Beto O’Rourke
A spokesman for Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Buck’s video.
“I have always been a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and will continue to stand up to any attacks on the law-abiding gun owners of Colorado’s Fourth District.”
Rep. Ken Buck
Republican, Colorado
Buck has permission to have the AR-15 in the U.S. Capitol because he is a member of Congress. It is illegal for non-members of Congress to bring a gun into the Capitol.
Buck told The Washington Post in 2015 that the AR-15 he keeps in his office is unloaded, has a trigger lock. He said he also had the bolt carrier assembly, which is required to actually fire the rifle, removed before it came to Washington.
GOP Rep. Ken Buck wields AR-15 in office, dares Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke to ‘come and take it’
Calamity Jane