Las Vegas, NV — Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke hit back at Michael Bloomberg after the former New York mayor criticized his confiscation plan for AR-15s and AK-47s.
O'Rourke has reenergized his presidential campaign by calling for the mandatory buyback of the popular rifles, with the owners being paid for turning them in.
"That's why I won't be a candidate of the Democratic Party. Because it's so impractical. I don't know how you'd even do it. It would be such a rallying cry for people that say they're overstepping their bounds," Bloomberg said during his interview on "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover."
Bloomberg added the reason why O'Rourke's plan is "impractical" is because "people who have guns, tend to have lots of guns" and calling for confiscation "just isn't all that productive."
After participating in the "2020 Presidential Gun Safety Forum" in "Sin City" on Wednesday, Townhall asked O'Rourke his response to Bloomberg's comments.
"Who gets to decide what's practical or not practical?" O'Rourke asked. "If I listen to those who been shot by an AR-15, an AK-47, those who fear being shot by an AR-15, AK-47 and they tell me what's practical, they say, 'Look, we can, by law, decide that not only will we ban these weapons of war, but that we will buy every single one of them back.'"
The Texas Democrat reiterated his belief that if a mandatory buyback became law, gun owners would comply and turn them into law enforcement.
O'Rourke added shotguns, handguns, and hunting rifles are types of firearms that are "clearly meant to be protected under the Second Amendment." He said he is only for confiscation of "weapons of war" and nothing more.