Midland Democratic Party Chair Cathy Broadrick worked for the federal prison system for 20 years and had to qualify annually to operate a variety of weapons, including the M16, a rifle similar to the AR-15.
While she doesn’t look down on gun enthusiasts who want to shoot such weapons — noting the “blood pumping” fun there is to be had — Broadrick said such automatic rifles shouldn’t be accessible to all.
“I understand all these people that scream freedom and their constitutional rights,” said Broadrick, a self-described country girl who hunted birds. “But if you’ve ever stood on the firing line and you’ve shot an M16, you realize the power that that weapon holds.”
For his part, O’Rourke said he too grew up in a family of responsible gun owners.
“Most of us grew up with firearms. I did at my house, where my dad kept a gun for protection, where we had guns for hunting, where I was taught how to safely use a gun by my great uncle Raymond, who was sheriff’s deputy and the jail captain at the El Paso County jail,” he said.
While Broadrick acknowledged that Democrats have debated the wisdom of O’Rourke’s comments [about confiscating AR-15s and AK-47s] , she doesn’t think his words will damage his political future because she believes few Texans own AR-15s.
The people who supported O’Rourke in his 2018 Senate campaign will still turn out for him this cycle, Broadrick added.
“I think Republicans will try to make an issue of it, but Beto wasn’t going to get those voters anyway,” she said.
— James Pollard and Patrick Svitek in Beto O’Rourke went after assault rifles in his run for president. Will that hurt him with gun-loving Texans?
