Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) says he was being “sarcastic” when he talked of nuking gun owners who refuse to comply with his confiscatory plans banning “assault weapons.”

On November 16, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Swalwell defended his proposed “assault weapons” buyback program by saying that if gun owners defy the ban, “the government has nukes.”

Swalwell was going back and forth on Twitter with reporter Joe Biggs when he referenced the nukes, and his statement was in response to Biggs pointing out that Americans will go to war with gun grabbers before giving up their firearms. Swalwell responded, “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.”

The NRA quickly seized on Swalwell’s “inflammatory and divisive rhetoric,” suggesting his might-makes-right attitude would only bolster the resolve of U.S. gun owners:

.@RepSwalwell suggested using nuclear weapons against Americans who oppose his gun control agenda. This includes forcing Americans to give up their semi-automatic firearms. This inflammatory and decisive rhetoric will inspire gun owners to fight harder to protect their rights. pic.twitter.com/FcpwoSqtYO — NRA (@NRA) November 17, 2018

Swalwell responded to the criticism by suggesting he was only kidding about nuking gun owners. He tweeted that he “sarcastically [pointed] out USA isn’t losing to [Joe Bigg’s] assault weapon.”

Swalwell could not believe that he was called a “tyrant” over the comments.

On May 21, 2018, Breitbart News reported Swalwell telling Tucker Carlson that Americans should be forced to handover their commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles and those who fail to comply should face criminal prosecution.

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.