Reacting to fellow Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s call to confiscate assault-style weapons during last week’s Democratic primary debate, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg said on Sunday that he agreed that O’Rourke’s comments will play into Republicans’ hands.
After telling CNN’s Jake Tapper that Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) was correct that O’Rourke’s remarks will be used by conservatives to “scare people by saying Democrats are coming for your guns,” Buttigieg added we are currently in a “golden moment to finally do something” on gun reform.
Buttigieg wasn’t the only Democrat to fret over the former Texas congressman’s call to take away Americans’ AR-15s and AK-47s in the wake of a spate of mass shootings. Rep. David Cicilline (D-NY) told Fox News Sunday O’Rourke’s “message doesn’t help.” Other Democrats, meanwhile, have sounded the alarm that the presidential hopeful’s impassioned demand for a mandatory buyback of assault rifles is emboldening the National Rifle Association.
