Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is urging President Donald Trump to ban AR-15 rifles as part of a broader push to address violent crime in U.S. cities. Appearing Tuesday on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, Scott said, “The president could also do some very simple things for us, Jake. Not just for Baltimore, but for the whole country… The president can say, no one will no longer be able to go into a store and buy an AR-15.”
Scott framed the proposed ban as a step toward making Baltimore and other cities safer. His remarks come as Baltimore continues to grapple with high rates of violent crime, much of it involving handguns rather than rifles.
Gun rights advocates quickly pushed back. The National Association for Gun Rights criticized Scott’s proposal, noting that rifles, including AR-15s, account for a small percentage of homicides nationwide. Citing FBI Uniform Crime Report data, critics pointed out that in 2021, more than twice as many people were killed with knives and other cutting tools than with rifles of any kind. They emphasized that AR-15-related deaths would make up only a fraction of that already small rifle category.
Additional FBI statistics from 2020 show more people were killed with fists and feet than with rifles. Gun rights supporters argue these figures undermine the case for banning AR-15s as an effective crime-reduction measure, especially in cities where most gun-related homicides involve handguns.
Scott has not provided details on how a federal AR-15 ban would be implemented or enforced, but he maintains that such action is necessary to curb violence. The debate over AR-15 restrictions remains a flashpoint in the national conversation on gun rights, with strong opposition from Second Amendment advocates and organizations.
