Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain says his wife and children are currently under police protection after death threats his family received following a Thursday night tweet directed at Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

Cain’s “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis” tweet during Thursday night’s Democratic debates created a social media firestorm with gun control advocates portraying it as a direct threat against a presidential candidate. Twitter removed the tweet and locked Cain’s account, and O’Rourke’s campaign even reported it to the FBI.

Appearing Friday with former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch on Radio America’s “The Dana Show,” Briscoe defended his tweet as simply another way to say “come and take it” and blasted O’Rourke for wanting to “take away a Constitutional right.”

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Cain told Loesch he wasn’t even watching the debate, but wanted to respond when a friend sent him an O’Rourke tweet that said, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15.”

The Texas lawmaker defended his tweet as another way of stating “Come and take it,” words on a flag held by participants at the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas Revolution.

“That’s really what we are saying, right?” he asked rhetorically. “My intent was to let him know, if you want it, come and take it … This is a right they can’t touch.” (RELATED: Democrat Strategist: Beto O’Rourke’s Rhetoric On Guns Will ‘Come Back To Destroy Him’)

“It’s there not just for self defense, but to prevent a tyrannical government from making us all serfs,” Cain added.

Cain told Loesch that police offer friends he’s talked to since the firestorm “are all laughing about it. They know it’s not a threat.”

“People try to use the law to silence dissenters in America, and I will not bow down or kneel down to it,” he continued. “I’ve not deleted the tweet and I’m still waiting on Twitter to reauthorize me to go back on.”

Cain said police are “currently protecting my wife and children from death threats from these very peaceful liberals.”

“Your family has actually received real, legitimate threats from all of this?” Loesch asked incredulously.

“They are so nice, aren’t they?” Cain responded.

Cain called O’Rourke a “failed politician” who “wants to take away a Constitutional right.”

“He knows it wasn’t a threat but he’s just using it for political gamesmanship,” he said.