Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) defended a potential “assault weapons” buyback Friday afternoon, saying that if gun owners defy a legislative ban, “the government has nukes.”
The exchange began with conservative Twitter commentator Joe Biggs responding to a story on Swalwell’s Thursday op-ed in USA Today, titled “Ban assault weapons, buy them back, go after resisters.” “@RepSwalwell wants a war,” Biggs wrote. “Because that’s what you would get.”
Swalwell responded by noting the government’s nuclear arsenal, writing: “And it would be a short war my friend. The government has nukes. Too many of them. But they’re legit. I’m sure if we talked we could find common ground to protect our families and communities.”
Biggs responded by asking, “So our government would nuke its own country in order to take guns? Wow.”
Swalwell countered by asking Biggs to quit being “dramatic” about the casual reference to weapons of mass destruction:
On May 21, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Swalwell pushed an “assault weapons” ban that would be based on buybacks with criminal charges for those who did not comply. A similar buyback was used by the Australia government.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.