Mark Kelly has traveled to space and back, and since then has been just about everywhere else (including Colorado) making a case for gun control in the face of those Second Amendment supporters on the “ideological fringe.” Kelly recently lit up social media with news that he had purchased an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle — the “poster boy” of military-style assault weapons — in Arizona.
Kelly has said he was trying to prove a point about background checks, not unlike Michael Moore’s (perfectly legal) acquisition of a hunting rifle in his anti-gun movie “Bowling for Columbine.” Breitbart.com has some questions for Kelly, though. If he was trying to prove how easy it was to purchase an AR-15, why did he purchase a used one, which would require him to wait 20 days to take possession? The owner of Diamondback Police Supply told Breitbart that Kelly hasn’t even completed the background check paperwork yet due to the waiting period.
If the purchase was just a stunt to show how easy it is to buy an assault weapon, it wasn’t very well planned. Ace of Spades has a few questions of his own, which he posed to Commander Kelly via Twitter.
If you wanted to "prove a point" why didn't you alert the media yourself? Why is it this comes to us via a hostile leak? @ShuttleCDRKelly
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
Dr Strangelove questions your media strategy, dude @ShuttleCDRKelly https://t.co/la9YVAgydS
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@shuttlecdrkelly Can you name a single reporter you talked with about this previously vis-a-vis publicizing your purchase?
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@shuttlecdrkelly because you surely would have discussed this with a reporter. The whole point is to get coverage/exposure.
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@shuttlecdrkelly Please name the reporter(s) you were talking about this with. Who was to have had the scoop?
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
Please, please let him say David Gregory.
I'm sorry I'm not a #RealReporter. I have no training in or credentials for asking COMPLETELY OBVIOUS questions. @shuttlecdrkelly
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
About that background check…. What does it prove, exactly, if it works as intended and allows a law-abiding citizen to exercise his or her Second Amendment right to own a firearm?
.@shuttlecdrkelly which part of your bio did you think would draw a red flag on the background check…?
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@shuttlecdrkelly …the Navy Officer part, the astronaut part, the Top Secret govt clearance part, or the clean criminal record part?
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@AceofSpadesHQ "It was to be announced after the short(?) 20-day waiting period on Monday. As you know, @ShuttleCDRKelly loves surprises."
— Jane Galt (@KnowYrEnemy) March 13, 2013
@KnowYrEnemy @ShuttleCDRKelly right the same answer that the Kremlin guy gave… in an absurdist comedy.
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
.@shuttlecdrkelly wanted to prove that a gun check would let a Naval officer and astronaut with no criminal record "slip through the cracks"
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) March 13, 2013
Kelly’s been pretty quiet about the whole affair. If it was a publicity stunt, it did get publicity, but probably not the kind Kelly wanted.
NSSF VP Larry Keane: Mark Kelly claiming he was buying an AR-15 for the experience "doesn’t pass the laugh test.”
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 12, 2013
https://twitter.com/jimmiebjr/status/311852849124483072
@AceofSpadesHQ He was just conducting research. Like Pete Townsend with the kiddie pr0n. @ShuttleCDRKelly
— jon gabriel (@exjon) March 13, 2013
You know @shuttlecdrkelly, I have ZERO problems with you buying a gun. Just quit telling me I shouldn't be allowed to, too.
— ⚡️Erick Brockway⚡️ (@erickbrockway) March 13, 2013
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