'Devout NRA Republican' gives up his AR-15 after horrors of Uvalde massacre

A self-described "devout NRA Republican" in Texas has decided to willingly give up his AR-15 rifle in the wake of last week's mass shooting an an elementary school in Uvalde.

In an interview with the Washington Post, 68-year-old Richard Small, a retired high school history teacher, revealed that he turned his AR-15 in to local law enforcement officials because he no longer wanted to own the weapon associated with multiple mass shootings.

“It just stirred something in me," he said of the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

Small tells the Post that he's still a believer in the right to carry firearms, but he no longer wants to have anything to do with the AR-15.

READ MORE: 'The most incompetent president in modern history': CNN national security analyst scorches Trump's four years of 'chaos'

“I’m a gun advocate," he said. "I believe in the Second Amendment. But this AR, after what I saw in Uvalde, I’m done with it... I’m sick over it."

Small is not the only gun owner to relinquish weapons after the Uvalde tragedy, as last week 37-year-old Oregon resident Ben Beers was also moved to give up his guns because of the massacre.

“Hopefully soon we can all wake up and realize this needs to be done," Beers said last week in a viral social media video. "This is an idea — guns are not as precious to us and nor are my Second Amendment rights as the lives of my children in school."