Karen Mallard is running against incumbent Republican Congressman Scott Taylor in Virginia’s Second Congressional District. In the wake of the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, she decided to destroy her husband’s AR-15 rifle. In a video posted to Facebook, she said she wanted this rifle out of the house and her husband agreed. Our friends at Twitchy noted her blog post on the matter:
You may have seen Emma Gonzalez’s amazing speech where she called out Trump and other politicians for taking NRA money and refusing to take any action on reforming America’s lax gun laws. The speech was amazing, and the fact that our young people are refusing to be silent victims and are demanding change gives me great hope. I believe gun reform can happen, and I stand with these students as they speak truth to power and march for their lives.
It’s also why my husband and I decided to destroy his AR-15.
This is @KarenMallard. She's running for congress in Virginia. She recently committed a felony in her ignorance about guns and gun laws. Don't be like Karen. pic.twitter.com/lc7SzEFdQ8
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) March 8, 2018
It's facinating that this "teacher" is oblivious to the law...she didn't not make this AR-15 "inoperable" - she only shortened the barrel - making it an illegal weapon and her committing a felony...this level of incompetenceis what the @DNC would support running for Congress!? https://t.co/71H69YGTFv
— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) March 8, 2018
She’s running on a pro-gun control platform, of course. And to show that commitment, she might have broken the law. Now, Mallard says she knew what she was doing, rendering the rifle inoperable prior to turning in the parts over to local law enforcement for disposal. Yet, if you watch the video, it seems that she merely just shortened the barrel, which is an illegal modification. People called her out, and Mallard cried out that she was the victim of a coordinated effort to overwhelm her campaign’s social media accounts. Well, we’ll see about that. What is a fact is that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives is now investigating the incident (via 13News Now):
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The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is investigating congressional candidate Karen Mallard after she posted a video on Facebook that shows her cutting apart an AR-15 rifle.
The school teacher and Democrat is running for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, hoping to oust Republican Congressman Scott Taylor.
Mallard, who has been in the classroom for 30 years, is running on a gun reform platform and said her teaching perspective is needed in Congress,
[…]
She goes on to explain that she wasn't happy when her husband bought the AR-15 "a while back." Mallard adds that after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on February 14, and the renewed outcries for stricter gun control that followed, she and her husband agreed they didn't want the AR-15 in their home.
The couple later decided they didn't want it in anyone else's house, either.
"So, today, we're going to destroy it," Mallard state in the video before taking a handheld power saw to the rifle.
[…]
Master Police Officer Tonya Pierce, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department, confirmed that the rifle was in the department's possession. Pierce told 13News Now the ATF was looking into the situation.
Mallard says she grew up with gun all her life for hunting, recreation, and protection. She also told 13News, a local ABC affiliate in Hampton, Virginia, that “We need just common sense gun laws, and these military-style assault weapons are the ones being used in mass shootings, and we need to get rid of the bump stocks, we need to get rid of those magazines."
After I rendered our family's AR-15 inoperable, we turned all of the components of the destroyed assault rifle into law enforcement to be properly discarded. https://t.co/jA66hzUOrG #Va02 #GunReformNow #SafeguardOurChildren #5
— Karen Mallard for Congress (@mallardforva) March 8, 2018
Yesterday, Right Wing Trolls engaged in what appears to be a coordinated effort to overwhelm our campaign's social media accounts with mean spirited @NRA talking points about the video of myself destroying my family's AR-15 Assault Rifle. #Va02 #TeamMallard #NRAisAfraid #2
— Karen Mallard for Congress (@mallardforva) March 8, 2018
Instead of having a reasoned and well thought out debate on how we can #SafeguardOurChildren from mass shootings, these @NRA enthusiasts wanted to claim that the video that I posted showed me breaking the law. #3 #Va02
— Karen Mallard for Congress (@mallardforva) March 8, 2018
Well, yeah, Ms. Mallard—if you don’t know the gun laws, as they exist right now, what gives you the platform to suggest we change them? Not to mention that we already have enough gun laws on the books. And there will be no now so-called assault weapons ban or a ban on so-called high-capacity magazines right now. At the same time, folks, this could change if Democrats win the 2018 elections, something that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson pointed out. They already have a bill that virtually bans firearms lying in wait—and 82 percent of Democrats support banning all semiautomatic firearms. This is their base.
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