Beto O'Rourke's pledge to 'take your AR-15' has already earned him death threats, including from a Texas lawmaker

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

published 13 September 2019

In case you missed Beto O'Rourke's "hell yes!" moment when he underscored his support for mandatory government buybacks of certain military-style rifles during Thursday's Democratic debate, he repeated it on Twitter — with merch.

Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R), who represents a red slice of east Houston and the surrounding suburbs, saw the tweet, and his clever response — get it? Beto's given name is Robert — included what appeared to be a death threat. That is certainly how O'Rourke saw it, and Twitter agreed.

After the debate, O'Rourke argued that the Second Amendment, like all constitutional rights, has limits, noting that there are already weapons that civilians are not allowed to own.

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If O'Rourke did actually get elected and somehow got a mandatory buyback program through Congress, he obviously wouldn't be the one knocking on state Rep. Cain's door to ask to buy his AR-15. It would be a law officer — though if that's Cain's big idea, he wouldn't be the first Republican state representative to threaten to shoot a police officer this year.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.