Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Wednesday broke with the National Rifle Association and said he supports bipartisan legislation that would increase the legal age for purchasing a rifle. Rubio also said he is rethinking his previous support of high-capacity magazines.
“I absolutely believe that in this country, if you are 18 years of age, you should not be able to buy a rifle,” he said, during a CNN town hall, responding to the father of a students who was one of 17 killed during the attack at a Florida high school last week. “I will support a law that takes that right away.”
Rubio was likely referencing a bipartisan bill that Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are crafting that would increase the age for legally purchasing a rifle to 21. The alleged shooter at the Florida high school is 19-years-old and was 18 when he purchased the AR-15 that he used to carry out the attack.
A kid too young buy a handgun should be too young to buy an #AR15. Working with @SenFeinstein on a bipartisan bill that will raise the minimum purchase age for non-military buyers from 18 to 21 – the same age you currently have to be to purchase a handgun.
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) February 21, 2018
Later in the town hall discussion, Rubio also suggested that he was supportive of banning bump stocks — a device that makes a semi-automatic gun function like an automatic weapon. A Las Vegas gunman used bump stocks to kill 50-plus people last year. Rubio also said he supports improving background checks, an issue President Trump has said he supports.
Rubio said he was also rethinking his support of large-capacity magazines. He said that he did not think a ban on high-capacity rifles would necessarily prevent another attack, but “it may save lives in an attack.”
While Rubio suggested a change of heart on some gun reform issues during the town hall discussion with students and parents of victims Wednesday, he floundered when a student survivor asked him if he would continue to take money from the NRA.
“The positions I hold on these issues of the Second Amendment, I’ve held since the day I entered office in the city of West Miami as an elected official,” Rubio said. “People buy into my agenda, and I do support the Second Amendment.”
Yes, well . . . this Daily Intelligencer post provides some context that shows that Rubio had a rougher night than is implied by this particular TPM post:
A real man of character.
NOT.
Anyone want to start a pool on how long it takes for him to completely cave on this one?
My bet: three days.
He’s busy rethinking how he is going to replace that 3.3 million in NRA money and how he will deal with their ads.
It’s not nice to cross the NRA .
You were paid .
“It’s a nice little senate seat you have there . We bought it it’s ours and it’d be a shame if anything happened to it”
People are drowning in the surf, and the lifeguards are thinking about perhaps getting their ankles wet. But they’re not really sure about that, since it would wash off some of their sunscreen.