Karen Mallard, a Virginia Beach school teacher who is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Scott Taylor (VA-2), is now being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) after sawing apart an AR-15 rifle. After posting her disassembly video to Facebook, the act has garnered hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments – mainly because was she did is a federal crime.
Mallard, a progressive Democrat, is currently running on a platform of gun control. According to her, “Our job is to teach children. It’s not to protect them from gun violence. That is the government’s job, and they’re failing at it.” Of course, progressives always believe responsibility should be untied from the family and levied to the state.
In the video, cutely named “krafts with Karen,” she explains that she was unhappy when her husband purchased an AR-15, “a while back.” Mallard added that after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spurred on by the outcries for stricter gun control, she and her husband agreed they did not want the AR-15 in their home, “or anyone else’s house.”
“So, today, we’re going to destroy it,” Mallard said in the video as she takes a power saw to the rifle.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUpHiY1njkE]
In a report from 13 News Now, Mallard explained, “We need just common sense gun laws, and these military-style assault weapons are the ones being used in mass shootings, and we need to get rid of the bump stocks, we need to get rid of those magazines.”
Angered by Mallard’s political grandstanding, many have accused her of breaking federal law. Currently, it is illegal to alter a firearm that, according to the Sawed-Off Shotgun and Sawed-Off Rifle Act, has been “modified to an overall length of less than 26 inches.”
Master Police Officer Tonya Pierce, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department, confirmed that the AR-15 rifle was in the possession of area police. She also explained that the ATF is now investigating the situation.
Under Virginia law, “possession or use of a ‘sawed-off’ shotgun or ‘sawed-off’ rifle in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a crime of violence is a Class 2 felony.” Considering Mallard now may face criminal charges, so much more letting the state have the responsibility.
