Q&A: Libertarian turned Republican Senate candidate Austin Petersen

By Brian Seay

“There is no tragedy no matter how great which justifies taking away the rights of innocent people,” Petersen tells Guns.com. “As a matter of fact, I believe that it’s time for us to expand gun rights in the United States.”
Austin Petersen is running for U.S. Senate in Missouri — an effort that, if realized, would see him unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill, a two-term Democrat in favor of gun control. Petersen is on the other end of that spectrum. In September, he made headlines for an AR-15 raffle that saw him booted from Facebook.
In an interview with Guns.com this week, Petersen talked about his relationship with firearms, and clarified his policy positions therein. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity and condensed.
Guns.com: What’s the first gun you ever fired? Talk about that. Who got you into guns?
Petersen: My father was a Green Beret, and he taught me to respect and how to use a gun. So the first firearm I believe I ever shot was my dad’s 20-gauge shotgun, single shot and after that he got me a .22 long rifle to start my gun collection with. So my father taught me how to shoot on the farm … and

Source: Guns.com