NC Lt. Gov. bragged about his AR-15s less than a day after Buffalo shooting, video shows
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is attending the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston this weekend, just days after 19 students and two of their teachers were killed in a shooting at a elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
But selfish, insensitive behavior is nothing new to Robinson, who, according to the convention’s website, is a member of the NRA’s national board of directors. Earlier this month, Robinson bragged to a church congregation about owning assault weapons.
His comments, which were made during a sermon at a Nash County church on May 15, came less than 24 hours after a racist massacre in Buffalo, N.Y., where 10 people were killed by a shooter with an illegally modified AR-15 rifle.
Robinson said he owns AR-15s, a type of semiautomatic assault rifle, so he can fight back “in case the government gets too big for its britches.”
“I’ll tell anybody, I got them AR-15s at home and I like to go target shooting and all that. That’s not what they’re there for,” Robinson said.
“I’m not ashamed to say it, I’m probably not supposed to say it, but I’m gonna say it anyway — I got them AR-15s in case the government gets too big for its britches,” he continued. “‘Cause I’m gonna fill the backside of them britches with some lead.”
Robinson also warned against government attempts to “disarm” its citizens. People are forgetting why the Second Amendment was crafted and calling it “old and antiquated,” he said.
“When the government makes moves to disarm you, you need to be concerned, very concerned,” he told the audience.
This is not the first time a North Carolina Republican has implied violence might be necessary in the face of perceived government injustices. In September of last year, U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn warned there could be “bloodshed” if elections continue to be stolen, saying he was willing to “defend liberty at all costs.”
Robinson often travels to churches across the state to deliver sermons full of inflammatory remarks that disparage everyone from women to Democrats and LGBTQ+ people. His comments about owning assault weapons — which are not only embarrassing, but dangerous — are just another reminder of how Robinson, who is setting himself up for a gubernatorial run in 2024, embraces controversy and reflects poorly on his state.
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 5:53 PM with the headline "NC Lt. Gov. bragged about his AR-15s less than a day after Buffalo shooting, video shows."
