Gabby Giffords' Husband Buys an AR-15 and then Makes Up a Bullshit Story About Why He Did It

A lot of twists and turns in this story from Breitbart.com. Shock, no one else in the media apart from Fox is bothering to cover it.

Allah has a good summary.

Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords' husband, got caught buying an AR-15. Not a crime, of course, but certainly a strange purchase for a gun-control advocate looking to ban the weapon.

He then claimed he was buying it to demonstrate how easy it is to buy an AR-15.

Couple problems with this story:

1. He didn't actually buy it. The gun he intended to buy was on consignment, and there's a 20-day federal delay to check to see if the weapon was used in a crime. On the other hand, had he bought a new AR-15, he could have walked right out of the store with it-- thus demonstrating the point he claims he wanted to make.

The “local ordinances” that apply to the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm AR-style rifle required that the AR-15 be placed on hold for 20 days because it was second-hand. If Kelly’s goal was to show how easy the background check system really is, why didn’t he buy a new “assault rifle” so he could take possession of it immediately, thereby allowing him to finish the background check on day he originally walked into the store–March 5?

Seems more like he wanted to save a buck on a gun. Not really the sort of thing someone crusading to make a point usually cares about.

2. His claimed stunt makes no sense. Let's go down the list: Mark Kelly is...

... a Naval officer

... a Space Shuttle pilot and astronaut

... with a clean criminal record

... who is married to a frickin' Congresswoman.

What would his point have been, had he actually gone through the federal check (which he didn't, despite his claims)? That a law-abiding Naval officer astronaut married to a Congresswoman can pass a federal gun purchase check?

Of course he could. How could he not pass it? On what grounds would there be a delay for someone who not only has a clean criminal record, but in fact almost certainly has a US intelligence clearance of much better than Top Secret?

Does he have a record as a crack dealer we don't know about?

How does this expose a flaw in the system?

Someone joked: "He thinks they trust him with Space Shuttle but that it's a scandal that he could pass a quick background check to buy a rifle?"

It makes no sense.

What makes sense is that he just wanted to buy the AR-15 and is now making up stories to explain away a hypocrisy.

Fern's Law: Liberals actually believe none of the things they preach to you about.

Explanation? Cicero, the Semiautomatic Assault Commenter, speculates:

Maybe he's a malignant demagogue, but also budget-minded.

Another Question: Kelly now claims he intended this purchase to prove how easy it was to buy an AR-15.

If so, how come he didn't alert the media himself? Why was this leaked from an unfriendly source to an unfriendly outlet, Breitbart?

Did he intend to prove his alleged point in secret?

posted by Ace at 06:09 PM

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