Beto's Idea on How To Change Gun Buying Makes Him Sound Like a Know-Nothing Liberal City Slicker
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has never known what he’s talking about, but his newfound pet project has really sent him over the edge.
That issue is, of course, gun control, and not moderate, debatable gun control.
We’re talking about full-blown confiscation, and the former Texas congressman’s enthusiasm for it is almost as pathetic as his ideas on how to accomplish it.
Beto’s latest move is to take on the financial industry, calling for banks and credit card companies to comply with his mandates for gun purchases.
“Credit cards have enabled many of America’s mass shootings in the last decade — and with Washington unwilling to act, they need to cut off the sales of weapons of war today,” the floundering candidate wrote Thursday on Twitter.
“Banks and credit card companies must: 1) Refuse to take part in the sale of assault weapons. 2) Stop processing transactions for gun sales online & at gun shows without background checks. 3) Stop doing business with gun & ammo manufacturers who produce or sell assault weapons,” he continued.
Credit cards have enabled many of America’s mass shootings in the last decade—and with Washington unwilling to act, they need to cut off the sales of weapons of war today. https://t.co/yqLHMF0EWD
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 12, 2019
Banks and credit card companies must:
1⃣Refuse to take part in the sale of assault weapons.
2⃣Stop processing transactions for gun sales online & at gun shows without background checks.
3⃣Stop doing business with gun & ammo manufacturers who produce or sell assault weapons— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 12, 2019
My oh my. There’s quite a bit wrong with that.
First, he never offers a definition of “assault weapons,” which completely ruins points No. 1 and 3. If you’re calling for something to be banned and taken away, you have to know exactly what that thing is.
I doubt O’Rourke’s definition involves anything other than cosmetics or even safety features, such as collapsing stocks or barrel shrouds.
Unfortunately, it’s equally likely his definition would be so expansive (for example, all semiautomatic firearms) that pretty much every gun manufacturer would be ineligible for business.
Second, it’s blatantly obvious that Beto doesn’t know how gun sales work.
Let’s take a look at point No. 2. He wants credit card companies to stop processing transactions for gun sales without background checks, which is quite absurd.
The only transactions that don’t require background checks are person-to-person private sales. When’s the last time you’ve used your credit card to buy something out of someone’s trunk?
Likely never, which is the point. These transactions are done with cash, which means gun sales completed with credit cards (yes, even online and at gun shows) are contingent on the required background check.
Now, is this a real critique of Beto’s policy? Of course not, but it’s still important.
This is a man trying to persuade people to make him the most powerful man in the world, and his primary goal apparently is to steal millions of guns from innocent Americans.
It’s not too much to ask that someone with that kind of aspiration should know what he’s talking about. Instead, his pet project is based on emotion, ignorance and unwarranted arrogance.
Fortunately, it looks like O’Rourke’s road to being tyrant is getting narrower by the day (he’s seventh in the RealClearPolitics polling average at 2.8 percent), so we can look forward to the day he faceplants for good.
Until then, Beto will remain the laughingstock of the Democratic field. And that’s saying something.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
