Republican Legislators Claim AR-15 Semiautomatic Rifles Are Needed For Killing Small Animals Like Prairie Dogs And Raccoons

Republican lawmakers claim AR-15 semiautomatic rifles are needed to ward off prairie dogs and chicken-eating raccoons.

As the United States continues to experience back-to-back mass shootings and high numbers of gun violence cases, Americans around the world are calling for more extreme gun control laws.

And some are pointing out the issue with Americans having access to semiautomatic rifles in the first dang place. Republican legislators reportedly claim AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, which have been used in at least half of the country’s deadliest mass shootings, are needed to ward off or kill small animals like prairie dogs, wild hogs and “other types of varmints.”

“If you talk to the people that own it, killing feral pigs in the, whatever, the middle of Louisiana. They’ll wonder: ‘Why would you take it away from me?'” said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy about AR-15s during an interview that was published by Vice News, People reports.

“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,” said Republican Senator John Thune while chatting with CNN, People reports.

Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck said the high-powered weapons are used for “killing raccoons before they get to our chickens.”