The No. 2 Republican in the Senate defended people who want to own an AR-15-style rifle, claiming that the voters he represents use the guns to shoot varmints and prairie dogs.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) noted the gun, which has faced criticism after several high-profile mass shootings in recent weeks, is among the most popular in the United States. Some Democrat lawmakers and pundits have pushed for a full ban on the rifle, while others have said that there should be a federal age restriction on AR-15s.
“The challenge you have on that is there’s 20 million of them in the country already. They are a sporting rifle. And it’s something that a lot of people [use] for purposes of going out target shooting. In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints,” Thune told CNN on Tuesday….