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As Senate talks continue on a possible deal to tackle gun violence, Senator John Thun (RS.D.) was asked why Americans will need the AR-15. His argument to CNN on Tuesday: The semi-automatic rifle could be useful for shooting prairie dogs in his home state.
“They are sport rifles. This is something that many people do [use] for target shooting purposes – in my state they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of warmints, “Thun said.” So I think there are legitimate reasons people want to have them. I think the challenge you already have is that there are literally millions of them in this country. “
Thune, the Senate’s whipping minority, also echoed his fellow Republicans, calling for more attention to guns and mental health issues, saying: “So I just think the issues they need to focus on are how to keep these types of weapons out of the hands of these young – in this case men – very crazy, young men.
Senator John Tunne on AR-15: “In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of predators. And that’s why I think there’s good reason people want to have them.” pic.twitter.com/BUJkLf3Apv
– Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 7, 2022
The remarks, which have been viewed millions of times on social media since Tuesday morning, follow arguments from other Republicans in the weeks after the mass shootings in Buffalo, Uwalde, Texas and Tulsa that Americans need access to the AR-15 – military rifle style – for killing wild boar, hunting pigs and getting rid of raccoons. A prairie dog averages 12 to 16 inches long and weighs 1 to 3 pounds, according to the National Park Service.
Thune’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.
The debate over access to the AR-15 comes as senators call for patience amid negotiations on a legislative package that could include the first significant federal arms restrictions in three decades, along with provisions on school security and mental health. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) said his chamber would vote on him “in the near future”, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Said it was “too much”. early ”to predict. how many Republicans could eventually come.
“We still don’t have an agreement,” McConnell said, adding, “I personally would prefer to get a result, and I hope we have one sooner rather than later.”
Hopes for a quick arms deal fade as Senate negotiators beg for patience
As expectations of a quick deal faded on Tuesday, actor Matthew McConaughey, a native of Uwalde, called on lawmakers to act on arms control with passionate remarks made surprisingly on the podium of the White House briefing. The emotional McConaughey told the stories of 19 children and two teachers killed by a gunman at a primary school on May 24.
McConaughey calls for weapons measures in the event of a surprise appearance at the White House
“Responsible gun owners are fed up with the abuse of the Second Amendment and its abduction by some crazy people,” McConaughey said. “These regulations are not a step backwards, they are a step forward for civil society and the second amendment.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, who was born in Uwalde, Texas, spoke about measures to regulate weapons at a briefing at the White House on June 7. (Video: The Washington Post)
A longtime proponent of gun rights, Thun has voted against mandatory gun shows inspections and longer mandatory waiting periods for firearms, according to Mitchell Republic, a South Dakota newspaper. He opposed any arms legislation last year that “could violate the privacy of law-abiding citizens exercising their clear rights under the Second Amendment”. The senator has an A-plus rating from the National Weapons Association, and his campaigns have received more than $ 638,000 in contributions from the NRA during his career, according to data collected by Brady’s 2019 campaign to prevent gun violence.
After the shooting in Texas, Republicans face online anger over NRA money
While it is estimated that more than 5 million prairie dogs roamed the American plains before 1800, the prairie dog range has shrunk to 5 percent of its original size and two of the five existing species are endangered or threatened, according to the National Service Park. The 2008 outbreak of the Silvat Plague further killed South Dakota, the US Department of Agriculture said. But the prairie dog population, which covers most of the western two-thirds of the state, has become so stable that control measures have been taken to limit the damage animals do to private land, according to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks .
Prairie dog hunting is allowed year-round and there are no restrictions on how many are killed – or what firearms are used.
“There are no restrictions on the caliber of rifles and / or pistols,” the Game, Fish and Parks website said.
While Democrats and other critics have called for restrictions on sales of the AR-15, some Republicans have argued that rifles are needed for hunting.
When Vice asked Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) Last month why Americans should still have access to AR-15, he cited the Louisiana wild boar population, which the state estimates at 700,000.
“If you talk to the people who own it,” Cassidy said, “killing wild boars in anything in the middle of Louisiana, they’ll wonder, ‘Why would you take it from me?'”
Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) Was asked the same question on Twitter last week. In addition to arguing that the AR-15 is needed for targeted sports and self-defense, Gaetz said the rifle was needed for “pig hunting.”
The issue was raised again in Congress last week when a spokesman, Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Said “blaming guns for what is happening in America is foolish.” Then Buck, who was seen with an AR-15 mounted on the wall of his office in 2020, pointed out how useful a rifle is in killing raccoons.
“In rural Colorado, the AR-15 is the preferred weapon for killing raccoons before they reach our chickens,” he said. “It’s a gun of your choice to kill a fox, it’s a gun that you control predators on your ranch, on your farm, on your property.
Buck added: “The idea that we will somehow deny access to – I think there are 20 million AR-15s in circulation in this country – makes absolutely no sense. And it’s a pity. “
Representative Ken Buck: “Blaming guilt for what is happening in America is petty … in rural Colorado, the AR-15 is the preferred weapon for killing raccoons before we get to our chickens.” Pic.twitter .com / nWmcJsqcBp
– Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 2, 2022
Thun’s argument for a prairie dog faces a backlash. Tennis legend Andy Roddick has significantly published a photo of a grown prairie dog.
Jon Thune (R) has just said that AR-15s are needed in South Dakota to shoot prairie dogs. This is a picture of a grown prairie dog pic.twitter.com/vOvWEtKlHb
– andyroddick (@andyroddick) June 7, 2022
Fred Gutenberg, whose daughter was killed in a mass shooting in 2018 at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, reminded the Republican of what AR-15 rifles did in school massacres.
“@SenJohnThune in my state and many others use AR 15 to photograph children,” Gutenberg wrote.
Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) Agreed, again urging that something be done – whatever it is – to tackle violence with weapons caused by AR-15 and similar firearms.
“Across the country, ‘they’ use them to shoot ‘human beings in schools, grocery stores, hospitals, churches, synagogues, malls, bars and workplaces,” Beyer wrote on Twitter. “If you think shooting pests is more important than preventing mass shootings of children in primary schools, you’re wrong.”
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