Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke speaks at the Iowa Federation of Labor convention, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, in Altoona, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

After an Arizona gun store owner launched a sale on and sold out of AR-15s and AK-47s in response to Beto O’Rourke’s “hell yes” comments from the Democratic debate earlier this month, the NRA has awarded the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate with the AR-15 salesman of the month award.

The Hill reports:

Alpha Dog Guns in Tempe, Ariz., announced that just four hours after launching a promotional discount called the “Beto Special” — spurred by O’Rourke’s now-viral comments about his buyback proposal — it sold out of AR-15s and other rifles, owner Matt Boggs said Thursday on “Fox & Friends.”



The NRA tweeted a photo made to mock the former congressman by calling him the “AR-15 salesman of the month,” adding the caption: “Possibly even of the year.”

Here’s what they tweeted:

Possibly even of the year… pic.twitter.com/ESnA4Qur93 — NRA (@NRA) September 19, 2019

O’Rourke responded by tweeting out the news about Colt Manufacturing suspending AR-15 production without noting the context for the news:

Well, you COULD read the actual article, but where’s the fun in that. pic.twitter.com/dGPLKID5WS — Sherry W (@tobellewiththis) September 20, 2019

Beto set off a firestorm two weeks ago after ABC News debate moderator David Muir asked whether or not he was going to take away people’s guns if elected president:

MUIR: Some of the stage have suggested a voluntary buy-back for guns in this country. You have gone further. You said, quote, “Americans who own AR-15s and AK-47s will have to sell them to the government, all of them. You know that critics call this confiscation. Are you proposing taking away their guns and how would this work?



BETO O’ROURKE: I am, if it’s a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield. If the high impact, high velocity, when it hits your body, shreds everything inside of your body because it was designed to do that so you would bleed to death on a battlefield and not be able to get up and kill one of our soldiers. When we see that being used against children and in Odessa, I met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15 and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa, there weren’t enough ambulances to get to them in time. Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore.

O’Rourke has doubled down on his gun confiscation position since the debate, and has even taken to sparring with normally Democrat-friendly journalists like CNN’s Chris Cuomo and members of his own party on the issue.

His near-singular focus on gun control has not helped his polling numbers. He is still polling at under 5% nationally.

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –