By Douglas Ernst - The Washington Times - Monday, February 3, 2020

Former Secretary of State John Kerry assured Iowans over the weekend that Joseph R. Biden is like liberal veterans who would never use an “AR-16 with a long clip” to hunt.

Mr. Kerry boasted of being a lifelong gun owner and hunter over the weekend before making multiple gaffes on the issue.

“You heard from Joe about the things he did with the NRA,” the former Massachusetts senator said. “That took courage. Delaware is a tough state. I’m a hunter. I’m a gun owner. I’ve been one all my life. There’s not a veteran here who would take an AR-16 with a long clip to go out and shoot a deer or shoot anything. There is no business — Joe led the fight to get those things off the street.”

Mr. Kerry likely meant to reference the popular AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and magazines, which serve a different purpose than a clip.

“We have a crowd who’s willing to bring [weapons I don’t support] back,” Mr. Kerry continued. “And we saw what happened in Las Vegas and other places. We need a Joe Biden with the guts and the courage and the savvy to be able to do something about that’s reasonable about guns in our country.”

The conservative website Red State also noted that AR-15s can’t be brought “back” because they are legal to own.

“They’ve been ’back’ for quite some time,” writer Nick Arama responded Sunday. “Nothing to do with President Donald Trump or whatever ’crowd’ he’s talking about. If he’s referring to the assault weapons ban that was up in 2004. Is he doing another Biden, not knowing what year he’s in? … But beyond that, it isn’t about hunting. It’s about the Second Amendment that shall not be abridged just because Joe Biden thinks we all should use shotguns and fire blasts through the door.”

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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