Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says he owns an AR-15 rifle to defend himself during a state of lawlessness or other apocalyptic scenarios.

In comments first posted on Twitter by a Voice of America reporter, Graham said aboard Air Force One that he had the semiautomatic rifle in case "there's a hurricane, a natural disaster, no power, no cops, no anything."

He noted looters would know not "to come to the AR-15 home."

Republicans have faced growing calls to pass stricter gun-control laws, though an assault-weapons ban is most likely off the table.

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Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina says he owns an AR-15 to defend himself during a state of lawlessness or other apocalyptic scenarios, reciting one of his favorite lines to indicate his staunch defense of gun rights after two deadly shootings killed 31 people last weekend.

In comments first posted on Twitter by a Voice of America reporter, Graham said aboard Air Force One that he had the semiautomatic rifle in case "there's a hurricane, a natural disaster, no power, no cops, no anything." He said looters would know not "to come to the AR-15 home."

"I think if you show up on the porch with an AR-15, they'll probably go down the street," Graham reportedly said.

Graham has previously noted his defense of gun rights by citing his AR-15 ownership. In 2013, Graham posted a tweet of himself at a gun range firing the AR-15 in Greenville, South Carolina.

That same year during a Senate hearing on gun control after the mass shooting that killed 26 people in Newtown, Connecticut, Graham said he owned an AR-15 and expressed hesitation to restrict the rights of gun owners. The South Carolina lawmaker pointed out that citizens could suddenly be thrown into a lawless nightmare scenario.

"You could find yourself in this country in a lawless environment from a natural disaster or a riot," Graham said. "I have an AR-15 at home, and I haven't hurt anybody, and I don't intend to do it."

Read more: Parkland, Florida, and the deadliest shootings in US history all have one thing in common

AR-15-style rifles have been the weapon of choice for many mass shooters in recent years, as USA Today described. The gunman in Dayton, Ohio, on Sunday used an AR-15-style pistol, killing nine people and injuring 27 more people in 30 seconds before the police fatally shot him, NPR reported.

Republicans have faced growing calls to pass stricter gun-control laws, though an assault-weapons ban is most likely off the table. Instead, they are thinking about expanding background checks and passing so-called red-flag laws that would allow law enforcement to take guns away from people deemed dangerous.