Remember, Corey A. Stewart, former chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, used the same AR-15 giveaway ploy in 2017 when he ran for governor and lost badly.

As a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, I find it abhorrent that after the mass shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Virginia Beach that another white, male, conservative politician feels the need to use as a prop a weapon that is designed specifically to kill and dismember the enemy on a battlefield.

Unfortunately, even with the recent passage of tougher gun laws, and the National Rifle Association gasping for breath, this event in central Virginia shows we still have a long, hard row to hoe.

Most Vietnam veterans carried, captured, cleaned and fired enough automatic and semiautomatic weapons to last a lifetime.