Sen. Manchin Comes Out Swinging Against AR-15s

West Virginia moderate Democrat Joe Manchin is standing by his far-left colleagues on the subject of gun control. The Democrat Senator is known for often sparring with members of his own party over controversial issues but not this time. Manchin expressed support for raising the age to purchase weapons and banning AR-15s.

CNN reports:

“I never thought I had a need for that type of a high-capacity automatic weapon,” Manchin told CNN on Monday. “I like to shoot, I like to go out and hunt. I like to go out sports shooting. I do all of that. But I’ve never felt I needed something of that magnitude.”

Manchin also said he “wouldn’t have a problem on looking at” backing a ban on so-called assault weapons — a proposal pushed by the White House and Democratic leaders, but that stands no chance of winning the needed 60-votes in the Senate.

“It depends on what they, how they would approach it,” Manchin said. “I’m open to anything that makes gun sense.”

Manchin is part of a small bipartisan group of Senate negotiators trying to finalize a deal on guns. The negotiators are not discussing some of President Joe Biden’s demands such as renewing the expired assault weapons ban, but they are looking at a handful of changes, including incentivizing states to enact red flag laws, which allow guns to be temporarily taken away from individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others, expand background checks on gun purchases, bolster the mental health care system and beef up school security. There is also discussion about new regulations on gun trafficking between states and potential new legislation on storing weapons safely at gun owners’ residences.