Legal gun owners don’t take kindly to overwrought politicians promising to confiscate their guns, especially in Texas. That fact played out Thursday night in Houston as one Texas State Representative delivered his displeasure with Robert Francis O’Rourke’s idea that his weapon should be taken away from him.

When the subject of gun control came up at the Democrat debate, when asked if he is in favor of gun confiscation, O’Rourke replied, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47.” He describes these weapons as “weapons of war”, a popular gun-grabbing talking point. The incorporation of the word ‘war’ is for dramatic effect.

“Critics call this confiscation. Are you proposing taking away their guns, and how would this work?” asked debate moderator David Muir.

O’Rourke said assault weapons were designed for a battlefield, not for hunting or personal protection.

“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” he said to cheers. “We’re not going to allow it to be used against your fellow Americans anymore.”

O’Rourke elaborated that folks in red states agree with him. Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain joined the debate on Twitter. His message – “My AR is ready for you, Robert Francis.”

https://twitter.com/BriscoeCain/status/1172364502530179072

In other words, Cain is saying, Come and take it. The Twitterverse reacted as you’d expect – Cain was accused of threatening a presidential candidate and many on Twitter tagged the FBI in their tweets. Robert Francis called it a threat and tweeted Cain shouldn’t own an AR-15 and “neither should anyone else.”

O’Rourke is clinging to the gun confiscation position because he has little else to run on at this point. He has nothing to lose by going over the cliff in a radical policy kind of gesture because he is floundering at the bottom of the heap after once being touted as the great savior of his party. This morning, as I write this, O’Rourke is at 2.8% in the combined averages of polling at Real Clear Politics – behind Andrew Yang. He used the mass shooting at the Walmart in El Paso as an opportunity to reinvigorate his presidential campaign before he eventually has to drop out and settle for running for U.S. Senate against John Cornyn. The other candidates on the stage Thursday night, by the way, complimented O’Rourke for his bold stance.

O’Rourke exposed the truth about the radical left and guns. Kamala Harris wants Congress to act on guns in her first 100 days or else she pledges to go it alone and take executive action. Elizabeth Warren said the gun-grabbing will have to be done incrementally. At least she’s now honest enough to admit that they won’t be satisfied with only partial confiscation. Democrats will just keep going with it.

Cain’s tweet was taken down by Twitter. It was labeled as a violation of Twitter’s terms of service against violent threats.

Minutes ago, @twitter took down this @briscoecain tweet about @BetoORourke. A @Twitter spokesperson said “it violates our rules for threats of violence.” pic.twitter.com/N9APEGjNzY

— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) September 13, 2019

An O’Rourke spokesperson confirmed that the campaign reported Cain’s tweet to the FBI. Some supporters voiced surprise that Twitter didn’t suspend his account.

An O'Rourke campaign spokesperson declined offer any comment on Twitter’s decision to take down Cain’s original tweet. No comment on whether this response was appropriate or did not go far enough.

Only comment: that the campaign did report Cain's tweet to the @FBI.

— Lois Beckett (@loisbeckett) September 13, 2019

Full disclosure: I am acquainted with Rep. Cain. He is a young, conservative Republican lawmaker from the Houston area, elected in 2016. The 34-year-old lawyer is showing a penchant for provocative actions in the political arena. He blames Asperger syndrome for some of his actions.

Last year, Cain was thrown out of the state Democratic convention after trying to distribute prank gun control signs, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported at the time. One attendee accused him of brandishing a gun at the event.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Cain told his fellow lawmakers earlier this year that he has Asperger syndrome and said: “Sometimes the things I say or do may come off completely different from what I intended.”

O’Rourke is raising money over his stance on gun confiscation. This is my shocked face.

Donate: https://t.co/yY8kKu7p8W pic.twitter.com/W0jj4liGkU

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) September 13, 2019