Senate candidate and U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is sponsoring a bill that, if passed, would ban Arizonans from purchasing AR-15 rifles.
Gallego has touted his support for gun control on his campaign website, but has not gone into detail about what his proposed policies would do if they become law.
for example, Campaign site It references Gallego’s time as a U.S. Marine and his use of fully automatic guns. “By carrying and using an M16 to protect himself and his fellow Marines in Iraq, Reuben made it clear that there was no place for weapons of war in civilian life,” it read. However, he did not explain how his use of the M16 (a rifle with a full-auto option) in the Marines relates to law-abiding Americans owning rifles that function only in semi-automatic mode. Not yet.
To be clear, the M16 is a battlefield weapon with a selective fire switch that allows troops to switch between semi-automatic and fully automatic bursts of three rounds. (In older versions, troops could go from semi-automatic to unrestricted full automatic, meaning that once a soldier pulled and held the trigger, it would automatically fire until all rounds in the magazine were fired.) I was able to.)
In contrast, an AR-15 fires one round, and only one round, each time you pull the trigger. This is because the AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle designed for civilian use. They do not have a selected fire switch and are usually not designed to withstand the heat to which the rifle is exposed internally by full auto firing.
Take a look — AWR Hawkins: Here’s the difference between an AR-15 and an “assault weapon”
Ahawkins
But Gallego wants to ban Arizonans from owning semi-automatic rifles, arguing that his use of the M16 is comparable to an AR-15.
His campaign website notes that as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gallego supports a ban on “assault weapons” and other gun control measures.
[Gallego] has actively sponsored vital legislation, including supporting initiatives such as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, the Assault Weapons Act, and Ethan’s Law, and providing support for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Ta. Passing the bipartisan Safer Communities Act was an important first step after years of inaction, helping to end the epidemic of gun violence in America, keep weapons of war off our streets, and bring weapons of war off the streets of Arizona. More work remains to be done to ensure the safety of our state’s communities.
In 2016, Gallego went so far as to support banning individuals under 16 from even firing an AR-15. He co-sponsored the following bill with Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA): would be prohibited No one under the age of 16 may fire an AR-15, even if an instructor is present at the range.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and also writes Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment for Breitbart News. He is also a writer and curator. He is a political analyst for Armed American Radio and a professional staff member for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and completed his Ph.D. Military history focusing on the Vietnam War (Brown Navy), the U.S. Navy since its inception, the Civil War, and early modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. To get Down Range, you can sign up at breitbart.com/downrange. Please contact us directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
