Rep. Ken Buck posted a video on his Twitter page Friday morning with what he says is “a message” for supporters of aggressive gun control. Buck, a Republican who represents Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, showed off an AR-15 decorated with an American flag in his office.
“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?”
He then takes the semi-automatic rifle off the wall and says “Come and take it.”
I have just one message for Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke, if you want to take everyone’s AR-15s, why don’t you swing by my office in Washington, D.C. and start with this one?
Come and take it. #2A pic.twitter.com/jG2SiXetov
— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) March 6, 2020
Buck wrote on his web site that he was given permission by Capitol Hill Police to display the weapon, which he says is unloaded and locked.
“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,” he said in a statement.
After a mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas, O’Rourke put gun control at the center of his Democratic campaign for president. He dropped out of the race in November, but not before bringing his message to Colorado. Earlier in the fall, he used a town hall in Aurora to double down on his call for a mandatory buyback for all AR-15 and AK-47 semi-automatic weapons.
He has since thrown his support behind Biden’s bid for the Democratic nomination.
Joe Biden has a section of his campaign website devoted to his plan to “end our gun violence epidemic.” On it he pledges to “ban the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
O’Rourke replied to Buck’s tweet soon afterwards, 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.”
Democratic presidential candidates have been careful about how they addressed gun control in the past, fearing they would alienate blue-collar gun owners in their own party and invite the wrath of the National Rifle Association. But CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd reported last year that the NRA’s influence has waned after a series of recent controversies, while that of gun control groups is strengthening.
