Beto O 'Rourke about the ban on assault weapons: "I refuse to recognize the polls, politics or fear of the NRA" | Video

CHUCK TODD: What you said is very hard to say, subscribing to your feeling, but fearful that the rhetoric will turn against you.

BETO O & ROURKE: I think this only shows you how confused Washington's priorities are. I think that's really horrible, it's a 17-month-old baby who received an AR-15 in the face, as was the case in Odessa. What's really terrible is 22 people who were killed in a Walmart on the Saturday before school started this Monday, buying their school supplies, innocent of any crime or threat to this country. In fact, they live in one of the safest cities in America, El Paso. , Texas, hunted by their ethnicity with a weapon designed to be used on a battlefield. Addressing the doctors and surgeons in the trauma ward who treated these victims in El Paso, they said, "These are war wounds." This high-impact, high velocity round, when it hit their systems, just shredded everything. I refuse to accept that. And I refuse even to recognize politics or voting, fear or NRA. It bought the complicity and silence of the congressmen. And that weak response to a real tragedy in America, 40,000 firearm deaths a year, we have to do something about it. And I propose that we do something about it.

CHUCK TODD: Explain your change of heart. You describe – to be a bit harsh, what you just said, Washington's weakness, you've already been one of those members of Congress who defended this very cautious formulation on firearms. What mistake did you make?

BETO O & ROURKE: No, I reject that. I reject that, Chuck. So, in Texas, in each of the 254 counties, regardless of their age, whether I'm red or rural or tall and blue, I was talking about a ban on assault weapons in that state, a proud state possessing firearms. Because I also know that it is a proud, responsible, possessing firearms. And people said, "It's the third pillar of Texas politics, you can never talk about it." I've talked about these problems all over the state. But you are right. On August 3, in El Paso, with 22 dead and dozens of others injured, I could no longer accept that it would be enough. Because there is still more than 10 million assault weapons, weapons of war, in the street. And if we agree that they are dangerous to sell and we should stop selling them, we must also agree that they are instruments of terror that still exist and must be brought home, or they will be used against us. And that's what we saw in El Paso, Midland, Odessa, Sutherland Springs. These are just three communities in Texas.

CHUCK TODD: You heard that one day it was Vice President Biden who was offering it and saying, "Do not forget the Constitution." So let me ask you that way. What is your interpretation of what the second amendment allows and what the second amendment does not allow?

BETO O 'ROURKE: I'll say it this way. It's something we can do thanks to the commercial clause. And that's something that is not prevented – would not prevent the United States from doing it by the second amendment. So, it is constitutionally valid. This is absolutely necessary if we care about the lives of our American compatriots. And here is something I want to tell you. Go to a gun show in Conway, Arkansas, stop yesterday at a Buc-ee in Katy, Texas, listening to the owners of AR-15, Republicans , who approach me and say to me, "You know what, these guns, do not need to hunt, do not need them for self-defense." This is the right thing to do, I would gladly give up on this weapon because I also have children who go to school, their safety "or" I have grandchildren. " I want to make sure this country is safe for them. "So, not only is this constitutionally consistent, but I think there is support, beyond the Democratic Party, for include Republicans and Independents, gun owners and non-gun owners, so that they act appropriately.

CHUCK TODD: Very quickly, I'm curious to know that you have a lot more attention for saying what you did. You were in favor of compulsory redemptions before. But now you get that goal, because of the way you said it. You were recently covered, "Hey, Congressman O 'Rourke is on stage," you know, referring to the fact that you occasionally curse on the stump. Do you find it a little frustrating that sometimes it takes a theatricality to attract the attention of the press, the American public?

BETO O. ROURKE: I think what people want us to do and what I'm trying to do as part of this campaign, is simply to see things as clearly as possible and to speak as honestly as possible. As much as possible, without triangulating or querying or you know, the newsgroup is testing the message. Just, call this for what is, absolutely false, unacceptable, that we have people so killed in our communities and people living in fear in America today. I reject this fear. And I want to move forward with a bold and ambitious proposal to ensure the safety of our communities, our homes and our United States.