‘My AR Is Ready For You’: GOP Lawmaker Sends Ominous Message To Beto O’Rourke

O'Rourke called the tweet from Briscoe Cain a "death threat," and his campaign is reporting it to the FBI.
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Briscoe Cain, a Republican serving in the Texas House of Representatives, is facing a possible FBI investigation over a threatening message he sent to Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

“My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” Cain wrote on Twitter in response to O’Rourke’s proposed assault weapons ban

Twitter later deleted the message for violating “rules for threats of violence,” The Guardian reported. However, O’Rourke shared a screenshot and called it a death threat: 

O’Rourke’s campaign told CNN it plans to report the message to the FBI.

Cain later called O’Rourke “a child” and taunted the people who had reported his message. 

Cool bro,” he wrote to one. 

O’Rourke, a former member of Congress, has made gun control a central message of his campaign, especially after last month’s mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, which left 22 people dead. The message Cain initially responded to was a partial quote from Thursday night’s Democratic debate, in which O’Rourke was asked about his proposed mandatory buyback of assault weapons.  

“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.”

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 state lawmakers earlier this year that he has Asperger’s syndrome and said: “Sometimes the things I say or do may come off completely different from what I intended.”

People on social media called out Cain for posting the threatening message and many said they had reported it:

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Before You Go

Pivotal Moments In The U.S. Gun Control Debate
1981: The Attempted Assassination Of President Ronald Reagan(01 of08)
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on March 30, 1981, President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Reagan's press secretary, Jim Brady, was shot in the head. (credit:Ron Edmonds, AP)
1993: The Brady Handgun Violence Act (02 of08)
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The Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1993, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, mandated that federally licensed dealers complete comprehensive background checks on individuals before selling them a gun. The legislation was named for James Brady, who was shot during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
1994: The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act(03 of08)
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The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, instituted a ban on 19 kinds of assault weapons, including Uzis and AK-47s. The crime bill also banned the possession of magazines holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. (An exemption was made for weapons and magazines manufactured prior to the ban.)
2007: The U.S. Court of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Rules In Favor Of Dick Heller(04 of08)
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In 2007 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled to allow Dick Heller, a licensed District police officer, to keep a handgun in his home in Washington, D.C. Following that ruling, the defendants petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
2008: Supreme Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban As Unconstitutional(05 of08)
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In June of 2008, the United States Supreme Court upheld the verdict of a lower court ruling the D.C. handgun ban unconstitutional in the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller.
Gabrielle Giffords And Trayvon Martin Shootings(06 of08)
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Gun control advocates had high hopes that reform efforts would have increased momentum in the wake of two tragic events that rocked the nation.In January of 2011, Jared Loughner opened fire at an event held by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), killing six and injuring 13, including the congresswoman. Resulting attempts to push gun control legislation proved fruitless, with neither proposal even succeeding in gaining a single GOP co-sponsor.More than a year after that shooting, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was gunned down by George Zimmerman in an event that some believed would bring increased scrutiny on the nation's Stand Your Ground laws. While there has been increasing discussion over the nature of those statutes, lawmakers were quick to concede that they had little faith the event would effectively spur gun control legislation, thanks largely to the National Rifle Association's vast lobbying power.Read more here: (credit:AP)
Colorado Movie Theater Shooting(07 of08)
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In July of 2012, a heavily armed gunman opened fire on theatergoers attending a midnight premiere of the final film of the latest Batman trilogy, killing 12 and wounding scores more.The suspect, James Eagan Holmes, allegedly carried out the act with a number of handguns, as well as an AR-15 assault rifle with a 100-round drum magazine.Some lawmakers used the incident, which took place in a state with some of the laxest gun control laws, to bring forth legislation designed to place increased regulations on access to such weapons, but many observers, citing previous experience, were hesitant to say that they would be able to overcome the power of the National Rifle Association and Washington gun lobby. (credit:AP)
Sikh Temple Shooting(08 of08)
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On August 5, 2012, white supremacist Wade Michael Page opened fire on a Sikhs gathered at a temple in Oak Creek, Wis., killing six and wounding four more before turning the gun on himself. (credit:AP)