Indianapolis Colts General Manager Chris Ballard had some strong words in favor of gun control Tuesday. To bad none of those words were factually correct.
When speaking in his capacity as the manager of a sports team on the non-related issue of mass shootings and gun laws, Ballard told reporters that he’s not “anti-gun,” he just thinks kids shouldn’t be able to legally buy an “AK-15 automatic weapon.”
Whatever that is.
“I’m not anti-gun. But I’m anti military-style weapons, that…it blows my mind the way that an 18-year-old kid can walk in and buy an AK-15 automatic weapon,” Ballard told reporters, speaking on the Greenwood Park Mall shooting in Indianapolis earlier this month (which was actually carried out by a 21-year-old, and stopped by a 22-year-olid legal gun owner).
“It makes no sense. Zero,” Ballard added.
At Training Camp @colts GM Chris Ballard w strong comments about the shooting at the greenwood mall. @WTHRcom pic.twitter.com/o5VIpGvyXe
— dave calabro (@calabro13sports) July 26, 2022
On that count, at least, he’s right – just not for the reason he thinks.
Ballard also slammed Republicans and Democrats who “can’t come to an agreement [on gun control] because of politics.”
Or, perhaps we can’t come to an agreement because one side has a firm grasp on firearms and the Second Amendment, and the other side wants to make a slew of news rules but can’t be bothered to learn the basic difference between an AK-47 and an AR-15, or a semi-automatic weapon and an automatic one, the latter of which is already illegal to own without a difficult-to-obtain federal firearms permit.
Stick to what you know, Ballard.