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Texas rep responds to O'Rourke's promise to take assault-style weapons: 'My AR is ready for you'

Posted at 7:53 AM, Sep 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-09-13 12:35:26-04

In a since-deleted tweet, a state rep from Texas appeared to threaten presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke following O'Rourke's promise to "take" assault-style rifles if he were elected president.

When asked about his plan for a mandatory gun-buyback program for assault rifles during Thursday's presidential debate, O'Rourke responded by saying "hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15." O'Rourke tweeted the phrase following the debate.

Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), responded to O'Rourke's tweet by saying "My AR is ready for you Robert Francis." Cain later deleted the tweet.

O'Rourke responded to Cain's tweet by calling it a "death threat." The Washington Post reports that O'Rourke's staffers notified the FBI about the tweet.

Following O'Rourke's claim of a death threat, Cain responded by calling the candidate a "child."

CNN later reported that it was Twitter who removed Cain's tweet. A spokesperson for the website told CNN the tweet was taken down because it violated the company's policy against violence and wishing harm against others.

O'Rourke's comments come about a month after a man used an assault-style weapon to kill 22 people in O'Rourke's hometown of El Paso, Texas. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 74 percent of Democrats support a mandatory buyback program. 31 percent of Republicans support the policy.