Robert Francis O’Rourke learned to handle guns responsibly when he was a kid. But all you other Americans should give up your “weapons of war” because reasons.
The former Texas congressman told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday in Las Vegas that he inherited guns belonging to his great uncle, who had taught him how to handle a firearm responsibly. He says he and his wife, Amy, who grew up on a New Mexico ranch and used guns, made sure their children also knew how to safely handle guns.
“Not only are they proficient, they also understand the responsibility that comes with using or owning firearms,” he said.
O’Rourke, speaking at a coffee shop 5 miles (8 kilometers) away from the site of a 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, said he’d like to use his personal experience and the traditions of gun ownership in his home state of Texas to “lead the country on sensible gun safety policy” that reduces violence.
“It is not a politically easy thing to talk about, but I think if we talk about it out from experience, out of pride and responsible gun ownership and ensuring that weapons of war are kept on the battlefield and they’re not used in our schools and concerts and communities, we’ll save a lot more lives and will do nothing to infringe upon any American’s Second Amendment rights,” he said.
– Michelle L. Price in O’Rourke says owning, using guns taught him responsible use