A Texas state representative tweeted “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis” at Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Beto O’Rourke during Thursday night’s Democratic debates.
Texas Republican State Rep. Briscoe Cain was responding to O’Rourke’s contention that government will “take your AR-15” if he wins office and his gun control plan is implemented. The tweet has reportedly been deleted by Twitter.
Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15.
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
Hell yeah, we’re going to take your AR-15. If it’s a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we’re going to buy it back. pic.twitter.com/cCEWkG6y0X
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
“If the high impact, high velocity round, when it hits your body, shreds everything inside of your body, because it was designed to do that, so that you would bleed to death on a battlefield, not be able to get up and kill one of our soldiers,” the former Texas Rep. said during Thursday night’s debate. “When we see that being used against children, and in Odessa, I met the mother of a 15-year-old girl who was shot by an AR-15, and that mother watched her bleed to death over the course of an hour because so many other people were shot by that AR-15 in Odessa and Midland. There weren’t enough ambulances to get to them in time, hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not gonna allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
Responding to Briscoe’s tweet later that night, O’Rourke called it a “death threat” and contended that the Texas state representative “shouldn’t own an AR-15.”
This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn’t own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else. pic.twitter.com/jsiZmwjMDs
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019
To which Cain quickly responded:
You’re a child Robert Francis https://t.co/rU3WoYQFQV
— ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? (@BriscoeCain) September 13, 2019
The Democratic presidential candidate later called Cain’s tweet an “irresponsible thing for him to do.”
Responding to Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain saying “My AR is ready for you” @BetoORourke says “I think it;s a really irresponsible thing for him to do… we are a nation of laws and if that (mandatory buyback) ends up becoming the law.. we expect people to comply w/ it” pic.twitter.com/Z5eUTMYTK2
— Tim Perry (@tperry518) September 13, 2019
“I think it’s a really irresponsible thing for him to do, especially somebody who is a public servant and in a position of public trust to be sending that kind of message to this country, we are a nation of laws, and if that ends up becoming the law of the United States of America, then we expect the people of this country to comply with it,” O’Rourke told CBS News. (RELATED: Beto’s Latest Gun Buyback Idea: You Will Voluntarily Comply)
The exchange went viral on Twitter, with prominent gun control advocates weighing in and calling it a real death threat:
If you threaten to kill a presidential candidate you should not have a gun pic.twitter.com/YqkzXaer2U
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) September 13, 2019
Death threats against Presidential candidate @BetoORourke, showing up at @MomsDemand rallies with AR 15’s to intimidate, threatening public violence reinforce the violent tendencies of those who claim to be good guys. @BriscoeCain, he should be arrested and his weapons removed https://t.co/uJUAoeukq3
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 13, 2019
Here’s @BriscoeCain doubling down on a threat against a presidential candidate Because he’s worried about said presidential candidate taking away his guns pic.twitter.com/Cx1SpSZYmU
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) September 13, 2019
This lawmaker should be arrested for making a death threat.
“My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” Republican Representative Briscoe Cain tweeted about O’Rourke. https://t.co/99o0VFttGa
— Amy Siskind ????️???? (@Amy_Siskind) September 13, 2019
Good morning, @BriscoeCain. Is this a threat to shoot @BetoORourke? It kinda feels that way, so can you please elaborate and specify what you meant by this? https://t.co/Puun3WEDzi
— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) September 13, 2019
If your response to a candidate proposing a new gun law is threatening to kill the candidate, you have proved exactly why we need tougher gun laws. @BriscoeCain should be red-flagged and disarmed. https://t.co/Hm8hdIKKS8
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) September 13, 2019
O’Rourke confirmed that his campaign indeed called the FBI.
.@BetoORourke says his campaign contacted the FBI about Texas lawmaker @BriscoeCain saying “my AR15 is ready for you” pic.twitter.com/T9FuZfQHBk
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 13, 2019
However, not everyone agreed with the argument that Briscoe’s tweet was an actual death threat.
“I’m coming to take your guns” is every bit as much a “death threat” under this ridiculous calculation as “come and take them.” https://t.co/h2tnkZJx1w
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) September 13, 2019
That is not a death threat
And if anyone should not be allowed to own a firearm it’s Beto O’Rourke, he has fantasized about murdering children: https://t.co/NZYRivK231 https://t.co/SbR8m2a3Qp
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 13, 2019
The Supreme Court made very clear long ago that politicized language about guns like this is not an illicit true threat & is protected by the First Amendment, which Beto apparently knows about as poorly as the Second Amendment. https://t.co/Oyf03i2Oqs https://t.co/5lKQVQc83q
— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) September 13, 2019
That’s not a death threat.
Brandenburg v. Ohio,(1969) says that government cannot constitutionally punish abstract advocacy of force or law violation unless it is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.
— Gab.com (@getongab) September 13, 2019
“My AR is ready for you”
Is not a threat.
What if he meant it’s ready for you to take, given the context of the tweet he is quoting where you claim you are going to do so.
You look like a petty, weak, and foolish man who has no clue what he is talking about.
BETA
— Gab.com (@getongab) September 13, 2019
Do you trust #Beto
To decide who can own guns?Of course not
That is why red flag laws
Are a red flag https://t.co/wVak6Py5fv— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) September 13, 2019
Cain clarified his comment via a response to someone to wrote he was “basically just saying ‘come and take it.'”
I get ratioed in the reg. Good summary though. Come and take it!
— ???????????????????????????? ???????????????? (@BriscoeCain) September 13, 2019
Finally:
All law abiding healthy adult citizens should have a real assault rifle. https://t.co/ALv0M6Dauj
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 13, 2019