Politics & Government

‘Take Our Guns And You’ll Learn,’ FL Lawmaker Warns President Biden

After 21 people were killed in a TX school shooting Tuesday, Florida Republican Randy Fine warned President Biden against confiscating guns.

After 21 people were killed in a Texas school shooting Tuesday, Florida Republican legislator Randy Fine warned President Joe Biden against confiscating guns.
After 21 people were killed in a Texas school shooting Tuesday, Florida Republican legislator Randy Fine warned President Joe Biden against confiscating guns. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

FLORIDA — The day after a Texas school shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead, a Florida Republican lawmaker had a warning for President Joe Biden, tweeting Wednesday morning, “I have news for the embarrassment that claims to be our President — try to take our guns and you’ll learn why the Second Amendment was written in the first place.”

State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay), a gun rights supporter, tweeted the warning less than 24 hours after an 18-year-old gunman wearing a tactical vest and carrying a long rifle barricaded himself in a classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and opened fire.

All 21 people killed were in that single classroom. The shooter, Salvador Ramos, was also eventually shot dead by law enforcement.

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In a similar Facebook post Wednesday, Fine referred to the president as “Traitor Joe.”


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The state legislator’s social media posts targeting Biden came after the president called for “common sense gun laws” in an emotional address to the nation Tuesday night.

“Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with it and stand up to the lobbies?” Biden asked. “It’s time to turn this pain into action. For every parent, for every citizen in this country, we have to make it clear to every elected official in this country: It’s time to act.”

Some critics took Fine’s tweets as a direct threat to the president.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about it Wednesday, “This MAGA-Republican argues we don’t need violent history checks on firearms by violently threatening the President. This is exactly why we need gun discipline in America.”

“You’re a damn disgrace Randy Fine. A disgrace,” Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon from Jacksonville tweeted. “This sounds like a threat to the President of the United States. First you pillage education funding, then you try to steal funding from Special Olympics programming and now you’re threatening POTUS. Your rhetoric and that of (Gov. Ron) DeSantis causes things like the Buffalo Massacre.”

Legal analyst Joyce Alene tagged the Secret Service in a tweet, writing, “This is the language of fascism, not democracy. In a democracy, we don’t threaten the president with guns (hi @SecretService) (and) we understand our rights must be balanced in a way that protects people. If your priority is protecting guns not babies you don’t belong in office!”

Fine said his warning was simply a reference to historic events in U.S. history, Florida Today reported.

"Joe Biden needs to learn a history lesson," Fine said, referencing the Revolutionary War and British attempts to take guns from colonists. "(The colonists) hid what they could and then they fought back."

He added, "Joe Biden can go on TV and not wait one minute before he blames Republicans and demands our guns be seized. That's apparently 'peace and unity.' We respond and we're riling people up. If the president of the United States wants to politicize a tragedy, he should expect people to get angry in return."

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