Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was heckled Wednesday as he explained why he would not support an assault-weapons ban during a town hall meeting after last week's Parkland massacre.
"If I believed that that law would have prevented this from happening, I would support it," the second-term Republican said at the CNN Town Hall in Sunrise, Florida, as the estimated 7,000 spectators jeered. "I want to explain why it would not."
He was responding to a question from Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jamie, was shot in last week's massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"It is too easy to get," Guttenberg said, referring to the AR-15 assault rifle allegedly used by Nikolas Cruz, 19, in the massacre. "It is a weapon of war.
"The fact that you can't stand with everybody in this building and say that, I'm sorry," he said.
"Sir," Rubio responded, "I do believe what you're saying is true."
The crowd cheered.
"I do believe what you're saying is true," the senator added. "I do believe what you're saying … "
Jeers then erupted.
"Everyone, everyone," moderator Jake Tapper interjected, "the senator has a right to be heard.
"He's answering Mr. Guttenberg's question."
Rubio explained that while such legislation would ban 200 models of assault weapons, "but it allows 2,000 other types of legal guns that are identical.
"In the way they function, in how fast they fire, in the type of caliber they fire, in the way they perform — they are indistinguishable from the ones that become illegal."
Rubio talked about how some gun owners have gotten around assault-weapons bans in New York and California — and, as such, the focus should be on keeping them out of the hands of criminals.
"We should make sure that dangerous criminals, people who are deranged, cannot buy any gun of any kind," he said. "That's what I believe a better answer will be."
However, Rubio's Democratic Senate colleague, Sen. Bill Nelson, credited him for participating in the town hall.
"Sen. Rubio and I have a good relationship," he said. "We get a lot of stuff done together.
"I want you to know that I told him before we came out here tonight that he had guts coming here … "
The crowd applauded.
" … When in fact there is no representative of the state of Florida," Nelson continued. "Our governor did not come here, Gov. [Rick] Scott."
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