Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) insisted on Wednesday that assault-style rifles like the AR-15 should not be banned following the massacre in Las Vegas because he said the weapons are “not dangerous.”

MSNBC host Willie Geist asked Cole if he was “alarmed at all” that the Las Vegas shooter had 49 weapons.

“I have friends that have that many weapons,” Cole replied. “That’s not uncommon in my part of the country. I mean, I literally could tick off 10 names right now of people — they’re collectors, they’re sportsmen. This is something they do. They’re not a threat to anybody. Quite the opposite. They are some of the most solid citizens in my state.”

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“I’m very fierce about the Second Amendment,” he added. “And again, I know most of the people that own these weapons — I mean, like 99.99 percent aren’t a threat to anybody.”

Geist also pressed Cole about why civilians needed a military-grade weapons like AR-15 rifles.

Cole, however, was against banning AR-15s.

“There’s millions of them in circulation,” he said reflexively. “When they’re used appropriately, they’re not dangerous.”

“They have to be dangerous!” Geist interrupted.

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“So, again, so are some trucks driving into crowds,” Cole shot back, earning a quizzical look from Geist. “So again, I don’t see that as the obvious answer.”

Watch the video below.