Texas GOP lawmaker tells Beto O'Rourke: 'My AR is ready for you'

A Texas state representative had a menacing response to Beto O'Rourke's statement in Thursday's debate that "hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15."

"My AR is ready for you Robert Francis," Republican Representative Briscoe Cain tweeted about O'Rourke, using the presidential candidate's legal first and middle name.

Cain's tweet was heavily ratioed on Twitter, meaning it received more outraged comments than likes or retweets. Within three hours, 3,400 people had commented on the post, and 89 people retweeted it.

O'Rourke was one of those who was upset.

"This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15 — and neither should anyone else," he wrote.

O'Rourke made the comment during Thursday night's debate when he was asked about mandatory buybacks for assault weapons.

"Hell yeah, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We're not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore," he said. "If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on the battlefield, we're going to buy it back."

His answer drew loud applause before the Democrat crowd, and his campaign was selling "Hell yes we're to take your AR-15" t-shirts by the time the debate was over.