We’re so old, we remember Dick Gephardt always going on about this unnamed rich friend of his who was always coming to his office and begging — begging — the government to raise his taxes, knowing it would be good for everybody.

Beto O’Rourke has been doing something similar lately, both telling voters at debates that, “Hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15s” (and even making a campaign fundraiser T-shirt out of it) and then sharing anecdotes of all the common ground he’s found with gun owners at gun shows, where you can buy an AR-15 for $395. Why, he’s certain law-abiding gun owners in Texas would be more than happy to cut their semi-automatic rifles into pieces:

Beto O'Rourke with another ?????: “Texans who own AR-15s, they’ve told me, 'I don’t need this. I don’t need it to hunt, I don’t need it to protect myself…if giving this back, or cutting it to pieces, or selling it to the gov helps to keep us safer, then by all means do it’” pic.twitter.com/am73OpOC8A — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) September 14, 2019

Now we have done a couple of posts on people who have destroyed their AR-15s on video (possibly illegally) or turned them in to police, but we’re not seeing a lot of it. But wait … O’Rourke just talked to another “longtime Republican” in a Buc-ee’s restroom and the movement is growing.

New O'Rourke anecdote: He says a longtime Republican chatted him up today in @BUCEES bathroom on guns. "He said, 'This is gonna be strange — not strange that I’m talking to you while we’re both at a urinal … but strange because I'm telling you you're absolutely right on guns." — Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) September 14, 2019

What’s strange about talking at the urinal? We’re counting the days until O’Rourke does a live stream of his trip to the restroom.

So, he likes to chat up men at urinals. Got it. — Adso of Melk (@PalimpsestMan) September 14, 2019

A lie — QuizzicalRepub (@QuizzicalRepub) September 14, 2019

If this happened, which it didn't, it still doesn't provide an ounce of evidence for Beto's unconstitutional platform,bringing him to a grand total of 0 evidence. — Matt (from Arnor) ???? (@MattOfArnor) September 14, 2019

How many foot taps did Beto conduct? — Politically Agnostic (@joeleyare) September 14, 2019

We see what you did there.

Funny how Beto's alleged anecdotes always seem to take place outside of public view, isn't it? — Blue State Snooze (@BlueSnoozeBlue) September 14, 2019

I’m gonna have to call bullshit. He seems to tell a lot of stories that are not disprovable, but are far-fetched and always align with his talking points. — DC Dude (@DCDude1776) September 14, 2019

I’ll take “things that never happened”, Alex for $500 — Vic Vega (@CapitalisticPig) September 14, 2019

Guys don’t do stuff like this. — Charles Bellows (@charles_bellows) September 14, 2019

This is a totally made up #BetoForAmerica story. #NeverHappened — Chad Wilbanks (@ChadWilbanks) September 14, 2019

Omg. He just can't stop lying … — Dagan K (@dagank4) September 14, 2019

Yeah that happened — George Smith (@P1B_WMichigan) September 14, 2019

This never happened. Dudes don't talk to other dudes in the bathroom. — Duke of No Way (@Hard_Wink) September 14, 2019

Then the men in the stalls started clapping. — Mattison (@EMBinWDC) September 14, 2019

yeah… im sure this was a real thing that happened ? — dosbox (@dosbox) September 14, 2019

why was Ana Navarro in a men's bathroom — 16 Handles fan accou (@BasedHersheyBar) September 14, 2019

If this happened, which it didn't, it still doesn't provide an ounce of evidence for Beto's unconstitutional platform,bringing him to a grand total of 0 evidence. — Matt (from Arnor) ???? (@MattOfArnor) September 14, 2019

Still a 0% chance that @BetoORourke is going to take my rifles. Zero percent. Tyrants aren’t welcome in my house. — Joseph Wade Miller ✝️ (@J_Wade_Miller) September 14, 2019

Well, one Republican told O'Rourke something about guns standing at the head taking a leak, so that settles it. (In seriousness, I have no idea what this is supposed to signify. Consensus on confiscation? Something else?) — Michael Haugen (@HaugenATX) September 14, 2019

Appeal to false authority, strawman. — I'm supposed to be working right now… (@hereforthejava) September 14, 2019

Oh, OK. In that case, I guess the debate is officially over. — R. Collins (@RC9511) September 14, 2019

I mean, I was totally pro 2A until Robert had this epic conversation with a creepy bum at a gas station while taking a leak. Now I don’t think there is any choice but to hand over all guns to the federal government. — R. Collins (@RC9511) September 14, 2019

I think the tide turned when he started cussing. That's what actually convinced people to turn in their firearms – curse words. Oh, wait … that's right. No one is really planning on turning anything in. It's all in Beto's head. pic.twitter.com/Gzl6uJskzo — Dagan K (@dagank4) September 14, 2019

My 8-year-old son read this and said "Beto is full of shit".https://t.co/gUK6Kor5Sn — BT (@back_ttys) September 14, 2019

Related: