Rep. Eric Swalwell: ‘We Must Ban and Buyback Assault Weapons’

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is pushing for a ban of “assault weapons” coupled with a buyback scheme.

He tweeted for this Wednesday, citing it as the step House Democrats need to take now they have passed legislation criminalizing private gun sales via universal background checks.

I'm not afraid of this guy. I'm not afraid of the NRA. I'm not afraid. No fear. #EndGunViolence pic.twitter.com/KcB1FRKnKR

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 3, 2019

Swalwell’s tweet also contained audio of a voicemail he allegedly received from someone who irate over the Democrats’ constant barrage of gun controls. The unidentified caller said, in part, “You think you got some new young motherf**ker going to take over and f**k the constitution? F**k you. You want to go to war motherf**ker? We’re going to war.”

Swalwell did not state when the alleged voicemail was left, but he responded to it by saying, “I’m not afraid of this guy. I’m not afraid of the NRA.” This was a strange response considering the voicemail embedded in Swalwell’s tweet did not say a word about the NRA.

New Zealand is in the process of banning commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles in conjunction with a buyback scheme. The buyback cost is expected to reach $300 million in a country that only has an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million firearms. The U.S. has approximately 340 million privately owned firearms, millions upon millions of which are commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles.

Swalwell’s push to ban commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles and buyback those already in circulation is repeat of a similar push he made nearly one year ago. On May 21, 2018, Swalwell told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson of his plan for a government-sponsored “assault weapons” buyback with criminal prosecution of Americans who do not comply.

Carlson told Swalwell the plan sounded like a forced buyback, i.e., confiscation. Swalwell rejected the label of confiscation but admitted that individuals who kept their commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles past the buyback period would be prosecuted if caught.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News 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.