Republican strategist Mike Murphy said that Beto O’Rourke is breaking the rules on gun politics by proposing a mandatory buyback of assault weapons.
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Republican strategist Mike Murphy says Beto O'Rourke broke the rules of gun politics. pic.twitter.com/Cirt2iDRZM
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 13, 2019
Murphy said on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, “I think he and Castro are in the same situation last night, they had campaigns running out of money, at 1 and 2% in the polls, so they both went for the risky move. Castro managed to blow up both his presidential campaign, which was dormant and his vice-presidential campaign, by attacking the most popular candidate in the party. Beto is breaking the rules of gun politics. Maybe we’re in a new era where those rules don’t count anymore. But historically some gun control legislation like background checks, large capacity magazine bans, assault weapons bans, have been fairly popular particularly with swing voters. But Beto is taken it to a step we’ve never litigated in a presidential election, which is mandatory buybacks.”
The politics of gun policy are changing fast. One could argue that O’Rourke isn’t out in front of the change. He is echoing where most Americans already are on the issue. Americans want assault weapons off the streets. It is time for real action on assault weapons, and it doesn’t matter of the NRA and their maybe 5 million members get freaked out, there are hundreds of millions of Americans who agree that action is needed.
Beto O’Rourke is breaking the rules on gun politics, but the rules were already changing. Sandy Hook was the shift. Parkland was the mobilization, and each additional mass shooting has added momentum to the call for change.
The NRA and their bought politicians in the Republican Party don’t want to see it, but the ground has shifted beneath their feet as a majority of the country is craving real action on guns.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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