...Kennedyeque businessman, musician, skateboard artiste, and politician who represented Texas' 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. Betois a Latino nickname for people whose names end in "erto," like "Roberto" or "Alberto." He is seeking the Dem nomination for President in 2020 because he has nice hair and lots of teeth. He was born into a local political family in El Paso, Texas and is a graduate of a prep school and Columbia University, which is not in Texas. In 2005, he was elected to the El Paso City Council. He was elected to Congress in 2012 after defeating eight-term incumbent Silvestre Reyes in the Democratic primary. He declined to seek re-election in 2018, instead running for the Senate against Republican Ted Cruz, running a campaign that drew national attention because of his skateboarding skills. A few months after he lost, he announced his campaign for President...
’s pledge that the government will confiscate semiautomatic AR-15 rifles will become a rallying cry for gun rights groups for years to come and haunt the Democratic Party far into the future.
"I frankly think that that clip will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations that try to scare people by saying that Democrats are coming for your guns," Coons, an ally of former Vice President Joe
Foreign Policy Whiz KidBiden
...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020...
in the Democratic race, told CNN’s Poppy Harlow in an interview.
O’Rourke, a former member of Congress from Texas, received loud applause at the Democratic debate in Houston on Thursday when he declared: "Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against fellow Americans anymore."
O’Rourke’s statement confirms the fears of many Republicans and gun rights advocates who say the ultimate goal of the gun control movement is government confiscation of firearms.
"When you really understand what the endgame of the left is, it’s literally mandatory buybacks or as I call it: confiscation. This is a step-by-step process for them," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told The Hill Thursday when asked about the debate over expanded background checks for firearms sales.
Coons, who is working with Republicans to pass more modest gun control measures, scrambled on Friday to contain the fallout from O’Rourke’s statement.
"I don’t think having our presidential candidates, like Congressman O’Rourke did, say that we’re going to try to take people’s guns against their will is a wise policy or political move," Coons said.
Asked if O’Rourke’s statement was irresponsible or hurt the party, Coons said, "we’ll have to see."
Coons has sponsored a bill with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that would require law enforcement officials to be notified when someone prohibited from purchasing a gun attempts to buy one.