An Arizona gun store owner says he will not sell Mark Kelly the AR-15 rifle that the vocal advocate for tighter gun control bought earlier this month.

The manager of the Tucson, Ariz., store where Kelly, husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, bought the firearm has said that he will not complete the March 5 transaction, according to a statement posted on Facebook.

“While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then [sic] for his personal use,” Douglas MacKinlay, owner of Diamondback Police Supply, said in the post.

The store was required to hold the rifle purchased by Kelly for 20 days, MacKinlay told the Associated Press after Kelly purchased the firearm.

“He is a U.S. citizen, an Arizona citizen expressing his Second Amendment rights to purchase and own a firearm,” MacKinlay told the AP at the time.

The gun store owner said in his statement posted on Monday that he had reconsidered the sale. MacKinlay did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday morning.

“In light of this fact, I determined that it was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store to complete the Federal Form 4473 and NICS [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] background check required of Mr. Kelly before he could take possession of this firearm,” MacKinlay said in the statement.

The store sent Kelly a refund last Thursday, according to the statement. Kelly, an astronaut, has promoted tighter gun control since his wife, Giffords, was shot in the head at point-blank range by Jared Loughner in 2011.

The couple launched a new national campaign in January to combat gun violence. Americans for Responsible Solutions was launched “to encourage elected officials to stand up for solutions to prevent gun violence and protect responsible gun ownership.”

Kelly, who is a gun owner, has said his purchase was meant to demonstrate how easy it is to buy a semi-automatic rifle.

Related:

• Gabby Giffords launches group to counter gun lobby 
• Gabby Giffords group airs gun-control ads in Ariz., Iowa
• Gabby Giffords stars in new gun-control TV ad
• Video shows dog belonging to Mark Kelly's daughter attack sea lion

Pint-sized sluggers in the town of Atwood, Ill., may have one of America’s best-selling firearms to thank when they step up to the plate this summer: The local youth baseball league is raffling an AR-15 rifle to raise funds for new equipment.

The response has been “tremendous,” said Charidy Butcher, co-owner of the Atwood Armory shop, which donated the gun for auction.  “I’ve gotten calls from every state in the country.”

The Rock River Arms Tactical Operator 2 AR-15 rifle that her store has put up was made by an Illinois firearms manufacturer, Butcher said. “It’s one of the hottest on the market right now,” she said. “They’re almost impossible to get your hands on.”

The raffle has already raised about $1,600 in two days, Butcher said – far outpacing last year’s raffle, which raised just $10.

"That's not counting the hundreds upon hundreds of people who have called in asking how they can send in their check for the raffle," Butcher said.

The most successful fundraiser in recent memory raised only $600, the league commissioner said.

“I’m loving it,” said Atwood-Hammond league commissioner Steven McClain. “A lot of people are saying it’s a political stunt, but it’s not.”

The team league is not affiliated with the Little League International, McClain said. Between 100 and 150 children participate in the league every year, he said.

“We’re not funded by anybody,” McClain said. “We don’t have any outside funds. We knock on doors to get sponsors from our local businesses and we’re self-sufficient.”

The rural town of Atwood had a population of about 1,200 in 2011, according to census statistics.

Both McClain and Butcher said they have young children who play ball in the league. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the youth league, Butcher said.

Whoever holds the winning ticket will have to undergo a full background check, according to local NBC affiliate WAND.

Police officers in San Francisco are scouring the city for a semi-automatic assault rifle stolen from a police vehicle over the weekend, authorities said.

Unidentified suspects smashed one of the unmarked car's windows and stole an AR-15 rifle while officers worked nearby, Officer Albie Esparza told NBC News.

The high-powered weapon is distributed to trained police officers so that it is at hand for rapid deployment during high-risk events, Esparza said.

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"No resource is being spared to recover this weapon," Esparza said.

Police do not know how the suspects determined the unmarked vehicle belonged to the police department.

The AR-15 assault rifle was the weapon used in last year's movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.