The recent rash of mass shootings hasn’t presented a good look for gun-loving (and gun-lobby-loving) lawmakers. That includes Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who seems to believe that post-9/11 restrictions don’t exist, so mass shootings shouldn’t mean that the U.S. needs some gun control. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has shoved his head into the sand while tweeting poker videos as Texas school shooting funerals (after the Uvalde gunman killed 19 children) happened. And Ken Buck (R-CO), who previously argued that Google’s algorithm somehow caused Trump’s election loss, has another wild claim for all.
The chickens must be saved in the face of mass shootings, Buck seriously argued before his fellow lawmakers on Thursday. Here he is telling the world how he needs a semi-automatic weapon in order to defeat raccoons. “An AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens,” Buck declared.
"An AR-15 is a gun of choice for killing raccoons before they get to our chickens."
— Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) pic.twitter.com/uTFYUaLtuN
— The Recount (@therecount) June 2, 2022
Well, that’s a new one, and as the saying goes, you cannot possibly make this stuff up. Yet even if chickens’ survival as a species actually depended upon their owners having access to AR-15-style rifles (used by both the Uvalde shooter and the suspect who opened fire at a Tulsa hospital on Thursday), that still doesn’t explain why there are barely any restrictions on buying these guns. In fact, both shooters purchased these semi-automatic weapons shortly before deploying them upon victims.
But you know… chickens.