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  • 2018-11-19 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell 'Suggest Nuking' Gun Owners Who Resist Confiscation? (en)
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  • In May 2018, U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (representing California's 15th Congressional district) wrote an opinion column for USA Today, calling for a ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons and proposing that the federal government buy such guns from their owners while criminal prosecuting those who refused to hand over their weapons: This policy proposal prompted something of a backlash from supporters of gun rights and led to a particularly significant exchange on Twitter more than six months later. On 16 November, the conservative television host John Cardillo posted a link to an NBC story about Swalwell's column, adding: Democrats want to eradicate the Second Amendment, ban and seize all guns, and have all power rest with the state. These people are dangerously obsessed with power: In response to this tweet, conservative gun rights enthusiast Joe Biggs wrote: So basically [Eric Swalwell] wants a war. Because that's what you would get. You're outta your fucking mind if you think I'll give up my rights and give the [government] all the power: Swalwell himself replied to that tweet with one of his own: Swalwell's reference to a short war and the U.S. government's possession of nuclear weapons prompted claims that he had called for such weapons to be used on gun owners who refused to sell or hand over their semi-automatic rifles under the proposal he had laid out in his USA Today column. Right-wing web site the Daily Wire declared in a headline: Democrat Calls for Gun Confiscation, Suggests Nuking Americans Who Fight Back, adding: The conservative Washington Times proclaimed in their headline that Swalwell had warned gun owners that the government has nukes: Swalwell's tweet was undoubtedly authentic, but he quickly clarified that he had intended his reference to nuclear weapons to be a joke: Swalwell also responded directly to Joe Biggs, who first invoked the concept of a war between gun owners and the U.S. government, clarifying that No one is nuking anyone or threatening that and positing the argument that you would go to war with your government to be ludicrous: Despite mentioning several other tweets posted by Swalwell on 16 November as part of the backlash against his nukes comment, the Daily Wire did not include in their article any of those in which he clarified that he had been joking and that no one is nuking anyone or threatening that. The Washington Times did include in their article Swalwell's clarification that he was not threatening to nuke gun owners, and yet (as of 19 November) retained the claim that the Congressman had warned gun owners about the government's possession of nuclear weapons. The Washington Times also did not include Swalwell's tweet which clarified that his original government nukes remarks were intended as no more than a joke. (en)
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