Nobody loves their political theater quite like Beto O’Rourke.

The Texas gubernatorial candidate, who this week thrust himself into the spotlight by interrupting a press conference on the Ulvadle massacre, quietly shifted his stance on AR-15s once again. This isn’t the first time the Texas Democrat has conveniently changed his opinion on the gun in hopes it will help his political ambitions.

Fox News reports:

The Internet Archives’ Wayback Machine shows that as recently as April 1, the “Gun safety” page included a section that said: “And while it might not be the easy or politically safe thing to say, I strongly believe that we need to reduce the number of AR-15’s and AK-47’s on our streets.”

Sometime since April 1 (the most recent date archived), the campaign edited the section to say: “And while it might not be the easy or politically safe thing to say, I don’t believe any civilian should own an AR-15 or AK-47.”

When running for president in 2019, O’Rourke expressed support banning the sale of AR-15s and seizing the guns from current owners, saying: “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15.” O’Rourke stood by that position as recently as November 2021.

But in February, O’Rourke took a more moderate stance. “I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone. What I want to make sure that we do is defend the Second Amendment. I want to make sure that we protect our fellow Texans far better than we’re doing right now,” he told reporters.

However, O’Rourke’s flip-flopping goes back even further to his 2018 campaign against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

“We support the Second Amendment, if you own a gun keep that gun,” O’Rourke said in 2018. “No one wants to take it away from you, at least I don’t.”

O’Rourke’s timing to change his stance on the popular assault rifle couldn’t more convenient. In what can only be assumed as political posturing the Democrat candidate is also planning to protest outside the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) convention in Houston on Friday.

According to Fox News:

“This massacre and the too many others before it are totally predictable, direct consequences of the choices made by Greg Abbott and the majority of those in the Texas legislature,” a page for the event said. “There will be more Uvaldes, El Pasos, Sutherland Springs, and Santa Fes until we decide to put the lives of our kids ahead of the political careers of gun lobby politicians like Greg Abbott.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, against whom O’Rourke is running, canceled his in-person attendance at the convention and will instead be in Uvalde on Friday. He made pre-taped remarks to be shown at the convention.

“Action is the antidote to despair,” O’Rourke tweeted while inviting people to the demonstration that says it seeks to hold the “NRA and the politicians they purchase accountable.”