Former Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke takes part in a televised town hall on CNN dedicated to LGBTQ issues in Los Angeles, Calif., October 10, 2019. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke admitted on Wednesday that under his federal gun “buyback” plan, police officers would go to the homes of those gun owners who refused to sell their weapons to the government in order to “recover” the banned semi-automatic rifles.

“What’s the next step for the federal government there?” Joe Scarborough asked O’Rourke on MSNBC, giving the example of a “rancher in Texas” who refuses to give up his AR-15.


“I think just as in any law that is not followed or flagrantly abused there have to be consequences or else there is no respect for the law,” O’Rourke responded. “So in that case I think there would be a visit by law enforcement to recover that firearm and make sure that it is purchased, bought back, so that it cannot be potentially used against somebody else.”

.@BetoORourke on his gun confiscation plan: “Has to be consequences” for noncompliance; "in that case I think there would be a visit by law enforcement to recover that firearm" pic.twitter.com/U5PywOgw9D — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 16, 2019

O’Rourke was also asked on CNN on Wednesday morning about how his buyback plan would solve the problem of another demographic with no intention of following the law: mass shooters.


“You expect mass shooters to follow the law?” CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked the former lawmaker. “They don’t follow the law by definition.”

O’Rourke nevertheless insisted that his policies, including a federal gun-confiscation program, “would have stopped many of the shootings.”


“Would it stop every single shooting? No,” the former congressman added.

“It doesn’t make sense that people are going to hand over their assault weapons if they’re mass shooters,” Camerota pressed. “So then what’s your plan?”

“If we pass this law then I expect our fellow Americans to follow the law,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke made headlines during last month’s Democratic presidential debate for proclaiming, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” when asked if he was proposing that the government confiscate legally owned assault-style weapons.

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