Rep. Eric Swalwell: ‘We Must Ban and Buyback Assault Weapons’

April 5, 2019 in News by RBN

Congressman Eric Swalwell (Democrat - California) speaks to guests during an event at the Iowa City Public Library on February 18, 2019, in Iowa City, Iowa. Swalwell responded to a statement about him from the Trump campaign on Monday. SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
AWR HAWKINS

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Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) is pushing for a ban of “assault weapons” coupled with a buyback scheme.

He tweeted for this Wednesday, citing it as the step House Democrats need to take now they have passed legislation criminalizing private gun sales via universal background checks.

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Rep. Eric Swalwell

@RepSwalwell

I’m not afraid of this guy. I’m not afraid of the NRA. I’m not afraid. No fear.

25.2K people are talking about this

Swalwell’s tweet also contained audio of a voicemail he allegedly received from someone who irate over the Democrats’ constant barrage of gun controls. The unidentified caller said, in part, “You think you got some new young motherf**ker going to take over and f**k the constitution? F**k you. You want to go to war motherf**ker? We’re going to war.”

Swalwell did not state when the alleged voicemail was left, but he responded to it by saying, “I’m not afraid of this guy. I’m not afraid of the NRA.” This was a strange response considering the voicemail embedded in Swalwell’s tweet did not say a word about the NRA.

New Zealand is in the process of banning commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles in conjunction with a buyback scheme. The buyback cost is expected to reach $300 million in a country that only has an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million firearms. The U.S. has approximately 340 million privately owned firearms, millions upon millions of which are commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles.

Swalwell’s push to ban commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles and buyback those already in circulation is repeat of a similar push he made nearly one year ago. On May 21, 2018, Swalwell told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson of his plan for a government-sponsored “assault weapons” buyback with criminal prosecution of Americans who do not comply.

Carlson told Swalwell the plan sounded like a forced buyback, i.e., confiscation. Swalwell rejected the label of confiscation but admitted that individuals who kept their commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles past the buyback period would be prosecuted if caught.