Kankakee Times

Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ottawa) told CNN on May 29 that he is open to a ban on AR-15 rifles.

"Look, I have opposed a ban, you know, fairly recently. I think I'm open to a ban now. It's going to depend on what it looks like because there's a lot of nuances on what constitutes, you know, certain things," Kinzinger told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" when asked if he still opposed "a ban on the kind of assault weapons that were used in the shooting" in Uvalde, Texas.

"We have to be coming to the table with ways to mitigate 18-year-olds buying these guns and walking into schools – my side's not doing that," said the congressman, who's not running for re-election in the fall. "My side is not coming forward with reasonable ways to defend an amendment that we think is very important. And so I'm looking at this going, 'Fine, if people are going to put forward solutions about certifying maybe who can buy an assault weapon, I'm certainly open to that.'"

Kinzinger told Bash that other Republicans are 'scared to talk about the gun issue.'

Kinzinger gained notoriety when he was censured by the Republican National Committee for joining the commission investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021.