Representative Ronny Jackson—a Texas Republican who previously served as the White House doctor during the Trump administration—was called out after he posted a video holding a gun unsafely while criticizing Democratic President Joe Biden's recent call for a federal ban on military-style assault weapons.
Writing on Twitter the same day a gunman opened fire and killed three people in a mall in Greenwood, Indiana, Jackson declared he will "NEVER give up my firearms" or "surrender my AR-15."
Jackson added if Democrats "want to push an insane gun-grab" then they can "COME AND TAKE IT!"
You can hear what he said in the video, which shows him toting two guns while pointing one at his own foot.
Jackson was criticized for his behavior.
He was called out for not holding his firearm safely—especially when he appeared to be intoxicated.
Several weeks ago, the Senate reached a deal on a package of safety and gun-related measures to prevent future mass shootings.
The deal includes funds to encourage states to pass and implement so-called "red flag" laws to remove guns from a person who they believe may present a danger to others or themselves as well as money for school safety and mental health resources and expanded background checks.
The deal came amid nationwide outrage over a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers. Since then, the nation has been gripped by more mass shootings, particularly one at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois that resulted in seven deaths and more than 40 injuries.
However, the shootings have only emboldened Republicans who have increased their pro-gun sales rhetoric and some, like Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have opted to eat their own, as when she criticized South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham after news outlets reported he was involved in bipartisan Senate negotiations on gun legislation.
