I’m kind of becoming a fan of Beto O’Rourke.

No, I’m not going to support him for president or any office, up to and including dog catcher. I’m not going to donate to his campaign or anything of that sort either.

You see, I’m becoming a fan of him because I’m becoming more and more convinced that he’s not really a presidential candidate so much as a performance artist. It’s the only thing that’s making much sense to me, and in that context, it’s awesome.

Why is it the only thing that makes sense? Because he thinks that if people don’t want to sell their guns to the government, some fines will be all that’s needed to compel people to change their minds.

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke provided insight into how police would enforce his proposal for a government confiscation of AR-15s and AK-47s.

The Democratic presidential candidate told reporters he would impose a fine on AR-15 owners to “compel” them to follow the law and turn in their banned firearms. Owners who turn in the guns will then be compensated.

“We expect our fellow Americans to follow the law. If they do not, there would be a fine imposed to compel them to follow the law,” O’Rourke said. “We’ve seen this implemented successfully in Australia, where you’ve seen a near 50% reduction in gun violence deaths in that country.”

Except, that’s not what happened.

For one thing, Australia didn’t just stop with AR-15 or similar rifles but began cracking down on guns of all stripes. If mandatory buybacks were responsible for a reduction in crime, it’s highly likely that laws restricting handguns would have had more of an impact as opposed to a firearm that even today in the U.S. is little used in crime.

Further, the nation was one that never embraced the right to keep and bear arms quite as Americans did, so they’d be willing to roll over and accept restrictions on their gun rights.

Americans are different. We’re ornery about our gun rights. Not all of us, but most of us.

I can promise you that if somehow O’Rourke got into the White House and had the opportunity to put his plan into place, I don’t care what kind of fines were put in place, I’m not giving up jack. Neither are most AR-15 owners, from what I can tell.

Then again, O’Rourke thinks he can continue to talk about gun confiscation–and let’s be clear, that’s exactly what a mandatory buyback is, it’s just dressed up to sound a little less totalitarian–and pretend that gun owners will just roll over and accept whatever he says. No. That’s not how any of this works, and the sooner his DUI-driving, failed folk-singing butt recognizes this, the happier everyone will be.

Go ahead. Threaten fines.

I speak for millions of American gun owners when I say just two little words, words passed down from history and immortalized for ages to come. They were uttered by the Spartans, then used in English by Texans.

Molon Labe, big man. Molon Labe.

Hat tip: PJ Media