‘My AR Is Ready For You’: Texas Lawmaker Threatens Beto O’Rourke Over Gun Control Proposal

A Texas state representative threatened Beto O’Rourke on Twitter Thursday night after the presidential candidate called for a mandatory buy back on all assault weapons.

“My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” wrote Briscoe Cain, using O’Rourke’s given name. Cain represents the state’s 128th House district, located just outside of Houston, where the third Democratic primary debate was held. Twitter has since taken down the tweet.

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

Shortly before the tweet was posted, O’Rourke delivered one of the most memorable moments of the debate when he emphatically defended his belief in a mandatory buy back of all assault weapons. He adopted the position in the wake of the shooting last month that left 22 dead in an El Paso Walmart. The shooter used a semi-automatic version of an AK-47 to carry out the attack.

“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” O’Rourke said when asked about his belief that weapons of war should be confiscated. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore.”

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

Though applauded by Democrats, O’Rourke’s comments were bashed by conservatives like Briscoe, who have long warned of a liberal plot to take guns away from Americans. O’Rourke was quick to reply to Cain’s tweet.

“This is a death threat, Representative,” he wrote. “Clearly, you shouldn’t own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else.”