Kelly said he planned on turning the gun over to Tucson police. Store owner cancels Kelly gun buy

The owner of a gun store in Tucson, Ariz., has canceled Mark Kelly’s purchase of an AR-15 because the gun control advocate doesn’t plan on keeping the assault weapon.

Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), bought the gun earlier this month to show how easy it is to buy an assault weapon. He said he planned on turning the gun over to Tucson police.


“While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other than for his personal use,” Diamondback Police Supply owner Doug MacKinlay wrote on Facebook on Monday. “In light of this fact, I determined that it was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store to complete the Federal Form 4473 and NICS background check required of Mr. Kelly before he could take possession [of] this firearm.”

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The rifle will instead be raffled off to benefit the Arizona Tactical Officers Association, and the store will donate the cost of the rifle — $1,295 — to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, an NRA effort to teach young children about gun safety.

“The emphasis of the program is on child safety, something that is important to all of us and at the core of the current debate on gun control,” MacKinlay said.

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Kelly and Giffords are co-founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions, which has been pushing for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks. The Senate is expected to take up gun-control legislation when it returns from the Easter recess.

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