Recently-announced Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell expressed an ambiguous view on the Second Amendment while speaking on CNN Sunday.

The California Congressman was asked if he supported an outright appeal of the constitutional amendment. He claimed he’d oppose such a dramatic proposal, while stating that “the Second Amendment is not an absolute right.” The Democrat went on to invoke federal bans on destructive devices such as bazookas and rocket propelled grenades as a rationale for a federal ban on what he defines as “assault weapons,” a political term invented to describe some of the most commonly owned firearms in America.

Swalwell’s comparison of weapons designed for civilians and rocket-propelled grenades is a red herring, nothing more. Such devices have never been in widespread circulation among among American gun owners- although they’re technically legal, they’re heavily regulated to the point where they’re near impossible to transfer or obtain. The assault weapons ban that Swalwell has expressed a desire to champion, however, would criminalize nearly 20 million firearms already owned by American gun owners.

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The Democrat’s invocation of weapons such as RPG’s as an argument for more federal prohibition is ironic- he became a target for criticism when he openly invoked the possibility of the federal government utilizing nuclear weapons in a hypothetical conflict against American civilians.

Such outlandish and threatening rhetoric doesn’t exactly make Swalwell come across as a credible advocate for community safety. But the backlash the member of Congress has received for his civil-war fantasies hasn’t prevented him from becoming the latest Democratic Presidential candidate, making gun control grabs his signature campaign issue. Swalwell would take a step further than other progressives in requiring a national gun “buyback” in which it would be mandatory for gun owners to hand over their so-called assault weapons to the government.

Let’s hope nuclear weapons wouldn’t be required for Swalwell to follow through on his gun-grab fantasies.