Another owner of an AR-15 assault rifle has made a statement by destroying the weapon, which was used in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last week.
Aaron LaRoque of Phoenix, Arizona, destroyed all four of his AR-15 assault rifles after seeing 17 more people killed with one on Valentine’s Day. The same type of gun was used in the Route 91 Harvest Festival Shooting on October, and a similar one was used in the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas last year.
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The weapon has become the center of the gun control controversy after this latest attack on an American high school. The survivors from Stoneman Douglas High lobbied with Florida lawmakers on Tuesday, asking for a ban on the assault weapons, which was declined.
LaRoque told local news outlets that he was inspired to destroy his recreational guns after several other gun-owners did the same in viral videos online.
“I don’t think my weapons would ever be used to kill people,” he reflected, “but it’s the point, it’s that I’m willing, as a gun owner, to sacrifice being able to own something like that for the greater good of society,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM.
He shared a similar sentiment on CBS5AZ, the local CBS News affiliate. “To me, the whole point is to say ‘I don’t agree with these anymore – people owning these assault weapons,’ and that’s what they are: assault weapons,” LaRoque said.
LaRoque is married with a young son. He said that his child even bought some of the rifles himself with his own money. The two of them loved to use the guns for target shooting, but LaRoque says he’s realized that the risk is too great.
“AR-15s seem to be meant for killing people and we don’t want a part of that,” he said. “I talked to my son and my wife about it because my son really likes them,” LaRoque continued. “We love shooting them. [My son has] bought two of them with his own money.”
LaRoque says he was inspired by a viral video made by Scott Pappalardo, where he explains why he’s willing to sacrifice his recreational gun for the safety of others, before sawing it in half. While LaRoque didn’t record himself destroying his collection of AR-15s, he was shown on the news surrounded by a saw and pieces of chopped up metal.
“After I showed [my son] the video and talked to him about it, he agreed. He said: ‘Let’s cut them up’… I basically decided after conversations with my family and my son that we’re not going to own these types of weapons,” he told reporters.
“These aren’t necessary,” he continued simply. “We have other weapons for hunting and protecting the home. These were strictly for us, for target shooting. And ,unfortunately, too many people are using these type of weapons to kill people, and a lot of people.”
Another video has gained traction online, showing a Connecticut woman named Amanda Meyer destroying her Sig Sauer .40 caliber handgun in response to the shooting.
“I’m not a protester, an activist, or anything like that – just a regular hillbilly gun owner probably like many of you,” Meyer said. “I grew up around guns, I took the hunter’s safety class when I was 14 years old, and my parents emphasized proper gun safety from a really early age, and I’ve carried that with me throughout my life,” Meyer says in the video. “I really like this gun, but you know what I like more is when people don’t get killed. We have all been affected by gun violence.”
Like Pappalardo, Meyer emphasized that destroying the gun sent a more powerful statement than selling it or turning it over to the police.
“If I sold this gun, it might end up in the hands of a normal person, a mass murderer or a suicide victim, and there’s really no way that I can know where it ends up. The only way that I can know for sure that this gun will never hurt anyone is if it doesn’t exist.”
