Dan Helmer is running for U.S. Congress in Virginia, and he’s willing to go the extra mile to prove his commitment to ending gun violence. Just how committed is he, you ask? Well, so committed that it looks like he’ll make stuff up in order to score political points:
Last week, I went to a gun show to find out how easy it is to buy an assault rifle. What I found was terrifying – it took less time to buy a weapon of war than a cup of coffee. #VA10 #NeverAgain #VetsVsTheNRA pic.twitter.com/d6bYxe6ADj
— Dan Helmer (@HelmerVA10) April 30, 2018
A weapon of war!
This is scary.
— Brady Stroup (@BradyStroup) May 1, 2018
Even scarier? The fact that a guy running on an anti-gun platform appears to have no idea what he’s talking about.
@DLoesch I live in va10 and had a BG check for every purchase, including gun shows. Thoughts? This smells fishy to me. https://t.co/A4xYpWPR8q
— Bill, just Bill (@WLFanning) May 1, 2018
It smells fishy to a lot of people.
That’s not an assault rifle. https://t.co/ihqizgpmeX
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 1, 2018
I think I know an assault rifle when I see one – I’ve carried them in combat
— Dan Helmer (@HelmerVA10) May 1, 2018
Thanks for your service, but you didn't buy a military-issue M4A1 at a gun show. And if you did purchase a military-issue select-fire rifle without a background check and NFA tax stamp (or FFL/SOT), you committed a felony. Pick one. https://t.co/dMXUfOXYPB
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) May 1, 2018
Also, he's lying. Check out what the text (vetted by legal, no doubt) actually says. "Functionality similar". pic.twitter.com/sW38P1paNc
— Dave's Not Here (@Weirddave0) May 1, 2018
Oof.
I live in VA10.
I don't vote for liars.
Dan Helmer will not be getting my vote. https://t.co/ZEOp2YyiJp
— RBe (@RBPundit) May 1, 2018
He did this at the Nation's Gun Show in Chantilly. He's lying.
That place is almost exclusively gun dealers and they run background checks.
— RBe (@RBPundit) May 1, 2018
— Robb Allen (the official Robb of 2018) (@ItsRobbAllen) May 1, 2018
Way to intentially omit info to sway public opinion. Being deceitful intentially to prove a point isn't the right way to make your point, they need an FFL not anyone can do that
— Lucas De Lange (@SuperSonicChron) May 1, 2018
One, you did not buy an assault rifle. Two, you did not buy a gun from a dealer without a background check. Have your beliefs but be honest
— John Crump (@crumpyss) May 1, 2018
So admit that you didn't buy a gun from a dealer without going through a background check (for those that don't know if he did the dealer would have committed a felony)
— John Crump (@crumpyss) May 1, 2018
The gun you bought is not a weapon of war, by your own admission. Had you lied about being a felon you would have broken federal laws. https://t.co/pRNBmkIfsa
— Heather (@hboulware) May 1, 2018
You identified yourself as a Veteran. Did you show any ID that confirmed that? Could that have something to do with why they skipped the background check? The video is clearly edited. https://t.co/pRNBmkIfsa
— Heather (@hboulware) May 1, 2018
Don’t brag about buying an AR15 in under 10 min and then select clips from it. Load the whole video so we can see. https://t.co/AfKPKaSBAL
— Wittorical (@Wittorical) May 1, 2018
I want to see you shoot that weapon in full auto, that way we will know it is an assault rifle like the one you used while deployed.
— JHH (@spanky5462) May 1, 2018
You’re a veteran, but call an AR a weapon of war? Either you never were in the battlefield or you edited this video to get your 15 min of fame. https://t.co/gUzyPISpq2
— elisabeth (@elisabethlehem) May 1, 2018
Neato burrito, a deliberately dishonest person talking about guns
— Chelsea Danger (@seaniep) May 1, 2018
What else is new?