Mark Kelly, one-time astronaut and husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, purchased an AR-15 assault rifle to highlight how easy it could be obtained. Within minutes his background check cleared and he had the rifle, but gun rights supporters immediately shot down his move as "hypocrisy."

Kelly mused online how guns could be purchased at gun shows and over the internet without even the cursory background check that he received. He described it as "scary."

Kelly's wife Giffords was shot in the head in January 2008 during an event in Tucson where she was meeting with constituents. The gunman, Jared Loughner, killed six people and wounded a dozen more. Giffords stepped down from Congress to heal and recover. Since that time, Kelly and Giffords have formed Americans for Responsible Solutions to help end sales of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips.

Despite the criticism, Kelly said that he needed to buy a gun for himself to have first-hand knowledge of the process. He plans on giving the guns to the Tucson police department.

The purchase was not without hiccups. Kelly was initially turned down for the purchase at Diamondback Police Supply because he used a Texas identification card. He returned later with identification from Arizona and made the purchase.

Doug MacKinlay, the owner of the store, feels much chagrin knowing now that the purchase was to make a political statement - and he regrets selling the guns to Kelly. He says that he would not have sold the guns to Kelly if he had known that the purchase would be used for political purposes.

"We do not support his stance that civilians should not be able to purchase assault-style weapons," MacKinley told Reuters.

The AR-15 itself is still in safekeeping at the store, because local laws require it to be held for 20 days to ensure it has neither been stolen nor used previously in a crime.

But Kelly's critics are out in droves, denouncing his move as hypocritical because he exercised his right to purchase arms but opposes those same rights for others.