Lawmaker touts AR-15 door prizes
Weapon not to blame, he says
USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee
One day after the worst mass shooting in American history, Rep. Andy Holt is firmly standing behind his decision to give away semi-automatic rifles similar to the one used in the Orlando shooting.
While announcing his plans last week to hold his first annual “Hog Fest and Turkey Shoot,” Holt, R-Dresden, said he will give away two AR-15s as a door prize to an attendee of his June 25 fundraiser.
On Monday, after news of the door prizes spread, a caller from Memphis allegedly threatened Holt and his staff over the lawmaker’s stance on the AR-15. Holt posted about the threats on his webpage, saying the caller claimed he had numerous guns and was coming to Nashville Tuesday.
The lawmaker’s caller ID apparently captured the caller’s number.
Holt said despite Sunday’s massacre in Orlando that left 49 people dead and 53 wounded, he remains stalwart in his belief that the weapon used in the mass shooting is not to blame.
“It has nothing to do with the style of weapon. It has everything to do with who’s behind the weapon,” said Holt, who has sponsored several gun bills, including one recently enacted law that allows full-time employees at Tennessee colleges and universities to carry weapons on campus.
Holt said the weapon is the type that can be used for multiple purposes including hunting, target shooting and self-defense.
He said the only thing wrong with the AR-15 is that “it’s black and it looks real scary.” He added: “If I beat somebody to death with a hammer that’s just a hammer. But if I was to take and wrap it up in electrical tape and make it black I guess that would make it an assault hammer.”
Holt said there is no functional difference between any semi-automatic weapon and an AR-15, and argued that it didn’t matter that an AR-15 had been used in various American mass shootings in recent years, including the 2012 shooting in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater and last year’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.
“It’s not about the gun. It has everything to do with the position and condition of that person’s heart that’s behind the gun behind pulling the trigger,” he said.
When asked how someone could determine whether a person has a good or bad heart while trying to obtain a weapon, Holt said, “Ultimately we don’t know the answer to that question. But what we do know is that the vast majority of weapons that are used are not used for those unlawful purposes. They’re used for lawful purposes of defending one’s self.”
Turning to the issue of background checks, when Holt was asked if he believes there needs to be additional steps taken, he said, “I believe there needs to be decreased amounts of that for lawful citizens. The Constitution is very clear that all Americans, all U.S. citizens, have the right to keep and bear arms.”
Holt said mass shootings frequently occur in gun-free zones, a point which defenders of the Second Amendment frequently make.
Holt argued that gun-free zones should not exist in any public spaces in Tennessee, while standing behind his plan to introduce a bill next year that will allow students to carry guns on college campuses.
He said Omar Mateen, the New York-born gunman responsible for Sunday’s shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando was a “crazed Islamist” and an “ISIS devotee.”
Holt said Mateen should have never been able to obtain the weapons he used during the shooting, given the fact that he was interrogated by the FBI in separate incidences.
“There were some very clear indicators — not once but twice or three times — this man had pledged himself to ISIS,” Holt said. “Guess what? If you do that, I don’t think you should have any guns.”
In an effort to stave off future massacres, Holt said the best way to stop a “crazed individual who is wielding a firearm” is to have armed citizens who can take action.
In a post on Facebook, Holt said he was “furious” because the federal government has not recognized the threat of radical Islam and lawmakers like Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, have blamed the Second Amendment.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Cohen called for House Speaker Paul Ryan to bring a bill to the floor that would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.