By Lauren Rearick

Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are facing off on stricter gun control laws.

As O’Rourke previously explained, if elected president, he intends to implement a law that would force Americans to return semi-automatic weapons to the government so they could be destroyed. During the Democratic presidential primary debate on Tuesday (October 15), the Congressman was asked how he intended to enforce that proposed gun buyback program.

Although he hasn’t offered exact specifics on the program, he did share some additional details at the debate. “If someone does not turn in an A.R.-15 or A.K.-47, one of these weapons or war or brings it out in public and brandishes it in an attempt to intimidate, as we saw when we were at Kent State recently, then that weapon will be taken from them,” he said. “If they persist, there will be other consequences from law enforcement. But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law."

However, Buttigieg disagreed with O’Rourke’s assessment, and contended that the Congressman didn’t understand his own plan. "You just made it clear that you don't know how this is actually going to take weapons off the streets,” the mayor said. “If you can develop the plan further, I think we can have a debate about it. But we can't wait. People are dying in the streets right now. We can't wait for purity tests, we have to just get something done."

But O’Rourke isn’t letting a criticism of his essentially being “too idealistic” to stop him. “Listening to my fellow Americans, to those students who March for Our Lives, who came up with this extraordinary bold peace plan, let follow their inspiration and lead and not be limited by the polls and consultants and focus groups."

The Congressman’s response led to a cutting one-liner from Buttigieg who retorted, “I don't need lessons from you on courage, political or personal. Everyone on this stage is determined to get something done.”

Both Buttigieg and O’Rourke have addressed their stance on proposed gun control legislation: Following two mass shootings that occurred in his home state of Texas, O’Rourke has been particularly vocal in his support of a buyback program. Meanwhile, Mayor Buttigieg has called for an increase in federal funding to research hate groups, universal background checks, and a ban on assault weapons; he has not shared any support of a buyback program.

O’Rourke isn’t the only Democratic presidential nominee in favor a buyback program. Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, and Sen. Bernie Sanders have all called for a mandatory buyback program; other candidates, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have called for voluntary buyback programs.

While the program has gained renewed attention, the concept itself isn’t new. Booker told MTV News that a similar ban was implemented in the 1980s. “We decided to ban a certain type of weapon and we were able to get them off of our streets,” he said. “This is something that we're fully capable of. It's not a matter of ‘can we?’ It's: ‘Do we have the political will to get it done?’”