Lindsey Graham shoots down AR-15 ban in the wake of mass shootings, saying he would need his semi-automatic rifle to fend off looters in a South Carolina hurricane
- Graham spoke of a ‘real scenario’ is ‘a natural disaster’ with no power or cops as he defended the use of AR-15s on Friday
- He responded to reporters asking about whether the weapon used in mass shootings should be banned
- Republican said people are ‘not going to come to the AR-15 home’ adding ‘if you show up on the porch with an AR-15, they’ll probably go down the street’
- Questioned about why they were necessary he compared the choice to entertainment and opting for a certain reading materials, games or movie genre
Lindsey Graham has claimed he would need an AR-15 if his home was to be looted in the event of a natural disaster.
The Republican Senator shared his opinion regarding calls to ban the firearm following last weekend’s mass shootings in Ohio and Texas, telling reporter on Air Force One that it would come in handy for people just to know he had one.
The South Carolina politician spoke of a hypothetical situation where locals wanted to steal items from his home during a time of dangerous weather and law enforcement would not be able to come to his rescue.
‘Here’s a scenario that I think is real: There’s a hurricane, a natural disaster, no power, no cops, no anything,’ Graham began about calls to ban semi-automatic weapons.
Lindsey Graham defended the use of AR-15s on Friday and spoke of a ‘real scenario’ in ‘a natural disaster’ with no power or cops where he would need the semi-automatic rifle. He waits for President Trump to disembark from Air Force One u in Westhampton Beach, New York
Grahamsaid people are ‘not going to come to the AR-15 home’ adding ‘if you show up on the porch with an AR-15, they’ll probably go down the street’
The Republican of South Carolina is pictured with the weapon in a tweet from six years ago
The publication reports that when a reporter asked if he meant looters, he replied: ‘Yeah, people, they’re not going to come to the AR-15 home. Well, I think if you show up on the porch with an AR-15, they’ll probably go down the street.’
Graham owns the military rifle – designed to kill as many people as possible – himself. He spoke about owning one during a Senate hearing after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
In 2013 he shared an image captioned: ‘Enjoyed shooting my AR-15 today at Sharp Shooters in Greenville.’
Graham was spotted arriving at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, on Friday where he greeted a crowd.
He was in the Hamptons with President Donald Trump to attend a pair of fundraisers before POTUS headed to his golf club in New Jersey for a vacation.
Trump visited Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas this week in the wake of last week’s shootings and has said he plans to toughen background checks on assault rifles. But a ban was off the table, he said.
Pictured is an Armalite AR15 with Aimpoint Micro T2 and forward grip. Graham compared using an AR-15 to choosing what to read, a video game or a movie to watch
Trump visited Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas this week in the wake of last week’s shootings and said he plans to toughen background checks on assault rifles but a ban is off the table
Graham continued suggesting the choice of which gun to own was similar to choosing your entertainment.
‘Why do you need to read what you read, and why do you need to watch the movie that you watch, and play the video games you watch,’ Graham said. ‘I can’t limit — your rights can’t be limited because I don’t understand why you want to do something.’
A 24-year-old gunman with an AR-15-style assault rifle killed nine people and injured 27 others in Dayton on Sunday.
The gunman in the El Paso mass shooting last Saturday complained in a manifesto that the WASR 10 rifle, an AK-47 variant, that he used to kill 20 people, couldn’t match the lethality of an AR-15.
Trump said Wednesday in regards to an assault rifle ban: ”I can tell you that there is no political appetite for that at this moment.’
Patrick Crusius (left) opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, shopping area packed with people during the busy back-to-school season Saturday, killing twenty people. Connor Betts (right) killed people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday