Beto O'Rourke Visits Gun Show Unannounced To Talk Gun Policy

Presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke made an unannounced stop at a gun show in Arkansas on Saturday while ramping up his campaign after a deadly mass shooting hit his hometown of El Paso, Texas.

The Democrat talked about his newly announced gun policy proposal and listened to gun owners and vendors at the event, many of whom were Republicans and Trump supporters, according to O’Rourke’s team. 

“In order to make progress, Beto believes we have to meet people where they are, and not be afraid to have hard conversations with people who may not always agree,” his campaign said in a statement.

O’Rourke’s presidential campaign briefly paused when he rushed to his hometown earlier this month after a gunman opened fire in a Walmart  in El Paso, allegedly targeting Mexican immigrants , and killed 22 people. Less than 24 hours after the El Paso attack, another mass shooting broke out in Dayton, Ohio.

O’Rourke returned to campaigning with a renewed focus on gun control. On Thursday, the former representative called for a ban on assault weapons and proposed a federal buyback program.

The Democrat said he “appreciated” hearing gun owners’ perspectives during the gun show but maintained that a ban on “weapons of war,” such as AR-15s, were necessary.

“If I’m president, you wouldn’t be able to buy weapons of war for $395,” O’Rourke tweeted from the show. “You wouldn’t be able to buy them at all.”

O’Rourke stopped at the gun show in between campaign events, according to ABC News .

According to ABC’s Jeffrey Cook, who accompanied O’Rourke to the show, a Trump supporter named Larry Beaver told the Democrat that his proposal to ban assault weapons wouldn’t help his campaign.

“If you want votes, you’re not going to get them by talking about taking this away from people,” Beaver told O’Rourke . “People are going to find a way to kill people.”

After announcing his gun control proposal earlier this week, O’Rourke acknowledged that proposing such a ban would make things difficult for his campaign.