Sen. Pat Toomey Refuses To Stop Mass Shootings Because Assault Weapons Are Popular

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) said that he will oppose legislation banning the guns that allow mass shooters to kill more people because assault weapons are popular.

Toomey said on Fox News, “My focus is on keeping guns out the hands of people who should not have guns. People who have no legal right to a firearm. You know, guns that are described as assault weapons are almost invariably no more powerful than ordinary hunting rifles. They look different. You know, they’re painted black and they’ve got features that an ordinary hunting rifle doesn’t have, but they’re no more lethal, and they’re extremely popular, so to ban an extremely popular firearm, I’m not going to support that. That would be an infringement on the rights of law-abiding citizens.”

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Sen. Toomey was spouting a popular gun industry talking point about the AR-15 being no more dangerous than a regular hunting rifle, but a 2016 Slate artice debunked this talking point, “Though it can be used for hunting, the AR-15 isn’t really a hunting rifle. Its standard .223 caliber ammunition doesn’t offer much stopping power for anything other than small game. Hunters themselves find the rifle controversial, with some arguing AR-15-style rifles empower sloppy, “spray and pray” hunters to waste ammunition. (The official Bushmaster XM15 manual lists the maximum effective rate of fire at 45 rounds per minute.)

The AR-15 isn’t a hunting rifle, and really shouldn’t be used for hunting, unless you’re a really crappy hunter.

The AR-15 is a military-grade weapon. It was designed as a long gun that can be used to engage an enemy across a battlefield. One can see why it would be a tool of choice for mass shooters who want to kill as many innocent people in a crowd as quickly as possible. The AR-15 was designed to kill people.

Toomey was suggesting that if something is popular, even if it kills innocent people, it must be kept legal. Heroin is really popular. It kills people every day, yet, it is correctly, illegal. The fact that gun owners like to buy AR-15s does not mean that Americans have to put up with mass shootings.

Sen. Toomey showed why nothing is going to change. Republicans won’t deal with the gun issue, because they are afraid that doing so would cost them votes in November.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association