The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is investigating a Virginia Beach teacher and political candidate after she sawed off part of an AR-15 rifle as part of an online video she recorded as "a personal stand for gun safety."
Democratic candidate Karen Mallard, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Scott Taylor for his congressional seat, said she destroyed the rifle to take a "personal stand for gun safety" after the same type of rifle was used to shoot and kill 17 people in the Feb 14 school shootings in Parkland, Florida, reports ABC 13 News.
Mallard said she turned in the weapon to the Virginia Beach police after she sawed off its barrel and showed the video through her Facebook account.
The video's critics pointed out that by sawing off the gun's barrel, she may have herself violated state gun laws that do not allow rifles to be modified to be less than 26 inches long.
Police said they have received the gun and are waiting ATF to pick it up.
Mallard complained on Twitter that "right wing trolls" waged a "coordinated effort to overwhelm our campaign's social media accounts with mean-spirited @NRA talking points about the video of myself destroying my family's AR-15 assault rifle."
She also told local media that her family had owned the gun, but destroyed it and took it "straight to the police department and dropped it off. I wanted there to be one less gun and to do something about gun violence."
Mallard has also claimed that the gun was "inoperable" before she sawed off its barrel.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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