Mark Kelly's purchase of rifle draws criticism

[Jazzy]

The husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords generated nearly 4,000 comments on Facebook from people on both sides of the gun debate after he posted a photo of himself buying a military-style rifle — a purchase he made to demonstrate how easy it is to obtain the kind of firearms he's lobbying Congress to ban.



A background check took only a matter of minutes to complete, Mark Kelly said in the Facebook post, adding that it's scary to think people can buy similar guns without background checks at gun shows or on the Internet.



It didn't take long for gun-rights supporters to accuse Kelly of being a hypocrite for buying an AR-15-style rifle and a 45.-caliber handgun. Many of the Facebook comments focused on his motivations and the rules for purchasing such guns.



Kelly and Giffords started a gun control advocacy group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, amid the wave of recent mass shootings. They have been touring the country in recent months in support of expanded background checks for gun purchases.



Kelly bought the guns at a Tucson shop the day before he appeared with his wife at the supermarket where she was wounded during a shooting rampage that left six dead and 12 others injured two years ago.



The public event last week was the first time the survivors had come together since the January 2011 shooting.



Giffords resigned from Congress last year as she continues to recover from her injuries.



The AR-15 is among 157 military-style weapons that would be banned under a bill pending before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Kelly, a former astronaut, said he intends to eventually hand in the rifle to Tucson police.



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.



MacKinlay said Kelly never revealed to the store's staff why he was buying the guns and added that it would be wrong to refuse to sell a gun to someone because of their personal views.



He is a U.S. citizen, an Arizona citizen and expressing his Second Amendment right to purchase and own a firearm, MacKinlay said.



Todd Rathner, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association's affiliate in Arizona and a national NRA board member, questioned the point that Kelly was trying to make in buying the guns, saying a model citizen such as Kelly should be able to buy a gun relatively quickly. He also noted that such a purchase could have been a good investment as the value of those types of weapon soars amid heightened demand from gun owners.



If you believe him, it's a cheap publicity stunt, Rathner said. If you don't, then he was speculating on the value of the rifle because he knew the prices would be inflated.

Source



In your opinion, what was his motive?

 

[Bluezone777]

Hmm... if he did it to prove it was too easy to procure a firearm then he is hinting that he is either mentally ill, a criminal or both as those are the types of people that the background checks work to prevent selling guns to. If he is none of these things then all he did was illustrate that the system works and is therefore an advocate of the buying of firearms.



Then you have the hypocrite stance which is basically he is buying it because he wants it and has been caught and therefore must make up a half believable story to avoid being labeled yet another hypocrite.



To me, the most plausible stance is that he is just another hypocrite who got caught red handed and is now attempting to flee the truth which is that he wants guns for himself yet believes you should do without.

 

[Sinon]

Hmm... if he did it to prove it was too easy to procure a firearm then he is hinting that he is either mentally ill, a criminal or both as those are the types of people that the background checks work to prevent selling guns to. If he is none of these things then all he did was illustrate that the system works and is therefore an advocate of the buying of firearms.

The thing is though, that you can't tell if he's mentally ill or not. There's no check for it. He could be stark raving insane and on a moment of lucidity, but there's no examination to determine his mental state.



I don't know. Are there ANY medical checks for buying guns?

 

[DrLeftover]

Former Astronaut files application to be an Attention Whore in the Political Arena. Film at Eleven.

 

[DrLeftover]

I think Mr. Kelly needs to get into the dog control debate.





http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-to-mark-kellys-daughter-attack-sea-lion?lite