Fresh off criticizing Senator Chuck Schumer for "inappropriate," "dangerous" and "threatening words" directed at two conservative Supreme Court justices, Congressman Ken Buck is inviting Joe Biden and Beto O'Rourke to "come and take" the AR-15 that Buck displays on the wall of his D.C. office.
Last year during a presidential debate, O'Rourke, whom presidential candidate Biden just tapped as a possible gun control advisor, said, “Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."
The invitation, which Buck put out via a video on Twitter, quickly led to tweet replies from users chastising the Republican Colorado congressman for making an apparent threat to the two politicians that Buck's staff refers to as the "gun-grabbing duo."
I have just one message for Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke, if you want to take everyone’s AR-15s, why don’t you swing by my office in Washington, D.C. and start with this one?
— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) March 6, 2020
Come and take it. #2A pic.twitter.com/jG2SiXetov
But the American-flag-wrapped gun that Buck displayed is actually harmless. In fact, it's not only unloaded and locked, but it doesn't even have a bolt carrier assembly, making it useless as a firearm.
“Putting a trigger lock on an inoperable gun is like putting a chastity belt on a eunuch,” Buck told the Washington Post in 2015 about his wall ornament. “The only dangerous thing about that gun is if someone took it off the wall and hit somebody else over the head with it.”
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Or, in the words of Twitter user iAmTheWarax, it's "a literal paperweight."
Other Twitter users questioned whether it was legal for Buck, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, to possess the AR-15 in Washington, D.C., where possession of that type of gun is illegal.
However, Buck apparently won't be getting into any legal hot water over this tweet. In a press release, his team cited the 2015 Washington Post article noting that Buck got permission from the U.S. Capitol Police to display the oversized paperweight in his office.
Buck's office did not respond to Westword's request for comment.
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