Giffords Husband Draws Criticism From Gun-Right Supporters For Buying AR-15 Type Rifle

[Purveyor]

PHOENIX (AP) — The husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords went to a Tucson gun store a week ago to buy a .45-caliber handgun and a military-style rifle the day before he appeared with his wife at the supermarket where she was wounded in a rampage two years ago.

It didn't take long for the purchase to draw criticism from gun-rights supporters.

Mark Kelly says he bought the AR-15-style weapon to draw attention to the relative ease with which people can get the type of gun that the shooter used in the Newtown school and Colorado movie theater killings.

MORE...

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/national/Giffords-husband-draws-criticism-from-gunright-supporters-for-buying-AR15-type-rifle_14265194

[Melon_Lord]

1. What did he do with it after?

Did he sell it back? Give it away? ... or is it sitting in a safe at home?

[moondust]

13. Turned it in to the police.

(Took it out of circulation.)

Or plans to turn it in. ?? Maybe planning to do a photo op or something as evidence of lax gun laws.

[Paul E Ester]

17. Actually not

He doesn't have possession of it. AZ law requires a 20 day wait for used guns while police check the gun to see if it was used in a crime.

He said he plans to turn it over. One technical issue many have complained about is when you buy a gun you cannot buy it intending to give it to someone else. Including the police. He could give it to them at a later time but you are NOT supposed to buy a gun intending to give it to another person. That is called a straw purchase and is a crime.

It's possible he was thinking it would be a great prop for the next gun buyback or it's possible he wasn't thinking much at all, saw a nice rifle and bought it. Either way, Mark Kelly is an example of the type of person who could be a responsible gun owner and I cannot blame him after what happened to his family.

[moondust]

22. I, for one,

am not about to doubt his intentions after all they've been through. I take him at his word.

[Yavapai]

26. Can you provide more information?

I Googled Arizona law and cannot find that there is a 20 day wait for used guns. I just called my local Arizona County Sheriff's department and spoke to two different deputies and neither of them have heard of that law either.

[Paul E Ester]

27. Tucson ordinance

"Doug MacKinlay is the owner of Diamondback Police Supply, the shop where Kelly bought the guns. He said Kelly bought the rifle on March 5 but couldn't immediately take possession of it because the shop had bought it from a customer. As a result, the store is required by a Tucson ordinance to hold the gun for 20 days to give the city enough time to make sure the weapon wasn't used in a crime, MacKinlay said."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Mark-Kelly-s-purchase-of-rifle-draws-criticism-4348978.php#ixzz2NNV5Qt7b

Might be a pawnshop rule that gets applied to guns?

[Yavapai]

41. thanks, haven't lived in Tucson for 30 years now.

That law doesn't apply in the rest of the state.

I feel much safer since I left there. When I did live there they had three serial rapists terrorizing women at the same time. They stopped when a woman opened up on one who drug her from a bus stop into a field in broad daylight. She shot him numerous times but not fataly. For some reason all three serial rapist stopped their sprees that same day. Bet the rapists moved to California where their lives would be much safer.

[Gravitycollapse]

37. Yeah...that's definitely not a straw purchase.

[Bay Boy]

2. Seems like a silly thing to do...

... someone without a record shouldn't have any trouble buying those guns.

[Robb]

3. No, they should be difficult to purchase.

That's the man's point.

[Bay Boy]

4. Why? n/t

[Melon_Lord]

5. If that was his point...

It seems like he would have made it at the rally, instead of leaving it open to gun rights advocates to disclose instead.

The way the story stands, on it's face, it sounds like hypocrisy...

[arely staircase]

7. how so?

if such weapons are banned he could no longer own one. has he called for the banning of that specific weapon? and even if so, like i said, why wouldn't any new law apply to him as well?

[Cali_Democrat]

6. Exactly

Amazing how a simple point like that goes right over the heads of the gunners.

Well, I'm not sure if it can really go over their heads because they have their heads up their asses.

[Lionessa]

14. Except Kellly is in no way one who shouldn't have guns, so his attempt is silly.

If he wanted to make a point, he needed to either disguise himself, or send in someone who might seem like someone who really shouldn't own guns.

[mwrguy]

21. They should be impossible to purchase.

Nobody needs an assault rifle.

[kudzu22]

23. How difficult?

Should the gun store make you crawl under barbed wire? Wrestle an alligator? He's not a felon, drug addict, mental defective, domestic abuser or fugitive from justice, so he passes the background check. What other obstacles do you think he should have to overcome?

[hack89]

25. If a buyer has no criminal history or history of mental problems

there should be minimal delay. With modern technology it is real easy to determine if someone is eligible to purchase a gun.

[Hoyt]

31. Nope, a whole lot of folks disagree with that gun dogma.

[OldDem2012]

8. I see this particular article failed to indicate what Kelly planned to do with the weapon....

...but this one does:

Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords buys AR-15 to make point

QUOTE:

Kelly, appearing on CNN and speaking from Florida, said he plans to turn in the AR-15 to Tucson police after he obtains. “I have no use for a gun like that,” he said.

Makes you wonder why the article you linked didn't include that key phrase, doesn't it?

[Fla_Democrat]

42. That's one less gun, the anti drug task force has to buy.

Good call. Who needs an AR-15 locked away in a gun safe, collecting dust, when it could be used for raiding pot smokers.



If the thing is such a high powered, military grade, people killer, why didn't he just donate it back to the military? At least then he would have a reasonable assumption that it wouldn't be used on civilians.... now, on the other hand, if he had bought a drone.....

[SidDithers]

9. This story and spin originated at breitbart.com...

No, I'm not providing a link to breitbart. You can find it yourself if you want.

Sid

[mwrguy]

10. He got caught, and he back-pedaled

[OldDem2012]

11. Nice try, but nonsense. nt.

[HangOnKids]

12. Care to explain?

Exactly what did he back pedal from? Please cite a source, I'm sure you have one handy, right?

[mwrguy]

18. He bought himself an assault rifle, and when he got caught

he used the 'Pete Townsend Defense'.

[HERVEPA]

20. What an idiotic argument.

[HangOnKids]

29. The article mentions none of that

The article was poorly written making it sound like he bought the weapon before Gabby got shot, that is not the case, he bought it a week or so ago. And exactly who "caught" him? I asked for some proof from you and you spew out the Pete Townsend defense, please. Really.

[Paul E Ester]

34. The sequence was

1. Buy guns
2. Word of gun purchase gets out. Gunner blogs start talking /breitbart- gets caught
3. Captain Kelly updates his facebook with the reason for buying it - backpedals.

the reason step three might be considered a backpedal is his logic for purchasing the weapon "to close the gun show loophole" is strange in a properly executed and legal purchase and transaction. Also buying a gun with the intention of giving it to someone else is a crime, regardless if thats the police.

Finally Captain Kelly has been described as a lifelong gun owner. He said he was keeping the .45 pistol. He likes shooting, someone like that might just want a .223 in the house before they get banned. Who can blame him.

[HangOnKids]

36. Gunner blogs and Breitbart? Not Buying Their Shit

His reason for purchasing the weapon, is just that a reason. I see some are spinning really HARD to make that backpedaling.

[mwrguy]

38. You're right, it's terribly written

He bought both weapons earlier this month.

Someone immediately ratted him out to a gun nut blogger named Neil McCabe, who went after Americans for Responsible Solutions on the 6th and blabbed to Britebart on the 7th.

On the 8th Kelly posted his explanation on facebook.

I'm sorry, but it looks like he got caught and pulled a silly excuse out afterward.

[HangOnKids]

39. Why does Kelly have to explain himself at all?

McCabe and Brietbart are scum, he owes them nothing. And Kelly didn't get "caught' as you keep saying, his personal purchase of these weapons is being used as a GOTCHA by assholes. Only then did he have to explain why he did what he did.

[baldguy]

16. Thank you for supplying the extremist RW pro-crminal pro-mass murder talking point.

[mwrguy]

19. I'm as anti-gun as you can get.

I'm really sorry he did this. It's not good.

[HangOnKids]

32. I see you back pedaling now

Spending time in the gungeon too. Interesting.

[mwrguy]

40. Not a bit.

Suit yourself, though.

[Paul E Ester]

15. Link to the facebook post

Many comments are nasty. I'm sure it's not been pleasant dealing with the nut jobs.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=474203615968235&set=a.215073368547929.71130.163148530407080&type=1



March 6, 2013 file photo, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, listens to her husband Mark Kelly, right, during a return to the supermarket where she was wounded in a rampage two years ago in Tucson, Ariz. Kelly went to a Tucson gun store a week ago to buy a .45-caliber handgun and a military-style rifle the day before the appearance.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Mark-Kelly-s-purchase-of-rifle-draws-criticism-4348978.php#ixzz2NNNBXp6U

[The Straight Story]

24. OMG if he touched and owned for a minute he might have killed tons of people

Guns make everyone do that!

1/3 of people in the US own them and shoot people everyday. We need to ban them, tax bullets, and keep an eye on our friends and neighbors and let police (who are not actual people and can have guns) know if any other citizen owns them. It's the only way to be safe.

Hopefully soon we will TSA at all malls, bars, dr offices, and so on to help us with the fear of each other.

I don't leave my house anymore and hole up in the basement with the windows boarded up, with 100 million or so gun owners out there it like the walking dead tv show, gun zombies everywhere....

[Paul E Ester]

28. He's keeping the .45 caliber semi-automatic killing machine

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know how that will turn out.

[NickB79]

30. So he buys an AR to show how easy it is to do so

And then has to wait 20 days before he can take possession of it?

Sounds like Tuscon's gun ordinances screwed up his attempt at making a point.

Oh, but he was able to walk out of the store with the handgun that day

[petronius]

33. Good: a not-disqualified person like Mr. Kelly *should* be able to buy a handgun

and/or a rifle with minimal obstruction and delay. I'm sure he passed the background check with no difficulty, and correctly filled out the Form 4473. So I support his ownership, and hope he enjoys his new firearms (whatever he plans to do with them)...

[Fla_Democrat]

35. If she had went and bought it

I might get a little worked up.

Mark Kelly
Astronaut
Mark Edward Kelly is a retired American astronaut, U.S. Navy Captain and naval aviator who flew combat missions during the Gulf War. He was selected to become a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 and flew his first mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108.


I'm kinda thinking maybe he passed the back ground check.