Beto Blows Up at Heckler During Texas Town Hall

Beto O'Rourke isn't afraid to get a little salty when taking on the topic of gun violence in the US, and he didn't disappoint on that front this week during a Texas town hall. Speaking Wednesday in front of a crowd gathered in Mineral Wells, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate was talking about one of his own state's most recent tragedies, the May mass shooting in Uvalde, and he didn't appreciate one heckler's response, per the Hill. As O'Rourke detailed how the teen gunman had legally purchased a rifle "originally designed for use on the battlefields in Vietnam," a man burst out laughing in the back of the room—and O'Rourke immediately responded.

"It may be funny to you, motherf---er, but it's not funny to me," he retorted. In a video of the interaction on social media that's since gone viral, the crowd can be seen loudly cheering O'Rourke's reaction, some giving him a standing ovation. O'Rourke didn't directly reference the incident in a tweet later that evening, but he made clear that when it comes to this issue, he's all business. "Nothing more serious to me than getting justice for the families in Uvalde and stopping this from ever happening again," he wrote. O'Rourke—whose stance on "common-sense" gun control has been a key part of his campaign, notes the Washington Post—will take on GOP incumbent Greg Abbott in November for the governor's seat. (More Beto O'Rourke stories.)