VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Congressional candidate Karen Mallard posted a video on Facebook that shows her cutting apart an AR-15 rifle. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is now allegedly investigating the act.
The school teacher and Democrat is running for Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, hoping to oust Republican Congressman Scott Taylor.
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In the video, as Mallard introduces herself, she says, "I grew up in Wise County, surrounded by guns. Our family had guns my whole life. We use them for hunting, for protection, and recreation."
She goes on to explain that she wasn't happy when her husband bought the AR-15 "a while back." Mallard adds that after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on February 14, and the renewed outcries for stricter gun control that followed, she and her husband agreed they didn't want the AR-15 in their home.
The couple later decided they didn't want it it anyone else's house, either.
"So, today, we're going to destroy it," states Mallard before taking a handheld power saw to it.
Some people commented on the video, accusing Mallard of political grandstanding.
Several others said Mallard broke federal law by taking a legal firearm and altering it, making it into an illegal one.
Mallard said she followed legal procedure, writing in her Facebook post:
"And yes for all the NRA trolls out there, I finished the job according to regulation and turned it over to the police. Why are you more outraged about me taking a gun out of circulation than about our children being murdered in our schools?"
Master Police Officer Tonya Pierce, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department, confirmed that the rifle was in the department's possession. Pierce told 13News Now the ATF was looking into the situation.