Like using a 'bazooka to hunt squirrels': John Thune ridiculed for 'prairie dog' defense of AR-15 ownership
United States Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-South Dakota) triggered an avalanche of questions on Tuesday when he offered a tenuous defense of average citizens owning AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.
"In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints," Thune told a gaggle of reporters at the Capitol. "And so I think there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them. And I think the challenge you have already is that there are literally millions of them available in this country."
Watch below via Vox's Aaron Rupar:
\u201cSen. John Thune on AR-15s: "In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints. And so I think there are legitimate reasons why people would want to have them."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
First came the cute pictures of prairie dogs, which have a reputation for invading properties and damaging crops.
\u201c@atrupar Here\u2019s a photo of some Prairie dogs kissing\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar A prairie dog\u2026@SenJohnThune\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Ah, yes, the notoriously viscious prarie dog.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
Those images were followed by perplexed Twitter users asking why a weapon as powerful as an AR-15 is necessary to take out prairie dogs and other small rodents, whom an AR-15 would blow to smithereens in a single shot.
\u201c@atrupar Why use AR-15 on prairie dogs? This is insanity.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Why do people want to splatter varmint guts everywhere? Why aren\u2019t they using a regular .22 like a normal person?\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar A .223 would vaporize a prairie dog.\n\nAmmosexuals just like getting off on the red mist.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Really? An ar15 for a prairie dog? Cmon man\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar @SenJohnThune do you have to swab other prairie dogs to identify their children b/c they\u2019ve been decimated by an AR-15 & are unidentifiable???\n\nBecause that\u2019s what parents have to do after their childrens bodies have been DESTROYED by an AR-15.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar "As everyone knows, the only way to kill a prairie dog is to turn it into a fine cologne."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar I keep telling these people I want a bazooka so I can hunt squirrels.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Maybe if they were better shots, they could use a lower-powered weapon and we could stop having our children murdered en masse in school.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@FrancisWegner @atrupar They didn\u2019t. \n\nThe \u201cbefore times\u201d were an atrocious time to be an American. Our ancestors were forced to be subservient to the prairie dogs until around 1959. \n\nMy grandfather fought in the first Varmint Wars and still does not like to talk about it.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
People also recoiled at Thune's "insulting" prioritization of unnecessary firepower over protecting the public from gun violence. There have been 247 mass shootings in 2021 as of this publication.
\u201c@atrupar A grown man in a position of supposedly responsible power is telling the world with a straight face that vaporizing a rodent into a grease spot is a "legitimate reason" to own such a weapon.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Attempting to normalize assault rifles in this way is insulting. These arguments are just proof these weapons are not remotely reasonable or necessary. \n\n\u201cMy pappy uses one as a back scratcher so I\u2019m afraid you\u2019ll just have to get used to your kids being slaughtered.\u201d\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar \u201cFollowup: what gives the AR a tactical advantage over other weapons? As in: why the AR, and not a pistol?\n\nBecause it\u2019s a better killing machine, perhaps?\u201d\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@Ry_Too_D2 @atrupar It\u2019s very Yosemite Sam\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar So because some people misuse a military weapon to kill "varmints", kids should die at school. Got it. NOT.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar So killing prairie dogs and varmints is more important than human lives? How many people are killed by prairie dogs and varmints?\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Prairie dogs, first graders, same thing.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Wild to see them choosing prairie dogs over children.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Ah yes, exploding prairie dogs is a legitimate reason\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
\u201c@atrupar Our classrooms are being turned into battlefields and a US Senator is talking about prairie dogs\u2026 cool cool\ud83e\udd2c\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1654618137
