Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is firing back at the Biden administration and suing them in an attempt to block new requirements for gun sales. 

“Today, myself and the Attorney General of Kansas announced that we are filing a lawsuit against a new Biden ATF regulation that would subject hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in the constitutionally protected private sale of firearms,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. 

Paxton was joined by Kansas AG Kris Kobach, during a Wednesday press conference at the Frisco Gun Club, where he stated the ATF is overstepping its authority after recently announcing it was expanding federal licensing rules and background checks to include some private sales of firearms.

“My message to Joe Biden yesterday, today and forever is this: Come and take it,” Paxton proclaimed. 

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Paxton’s reference to “come and take it” runs deep in Texas state history.

The phrase “Come and Take It” dates back to King Leonidas I defying the Persian army to take his army’s weapons with the phrase “Molon labe” at the Battle of Thermopylae, according to the Houston Chronicle.

However, on Oct, 2, 1835, that phrase became part of Texas pride and a symbol of resilience as a small group of rebellious colonists in what is now South Texas defied Mexican rule, named “The Battle of Gonzales.” This also marked the first military fight of the Texas Revolution.

During the Battle of Gonzales, they cried out “Come and take it!” and it became a declaration of Texas’ independence.

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Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S., on Sunday, July 11, 2021. The three-day conference is titled “America UnCanceled.” Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The premise of this battle was focused on American colonists who were refusing to give back a cannon, which is seen on the flag, to Mexican soldiers that they had received in 1831 to fight off Natives in the area. 

The Chronicle also reported that the colonists wanted the cannon to defend themselves from Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s increasingly aggressive actions against them. 

The flag used in that battle, which has become a symbol of Texas pride, was also the first flag used in the Texas Revolution.

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President Biden / Texas AG Ken Paxton (Al Drago | Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The phrase, which is now widely used, has come to symbolize defiance against someone or something looking to deprive you of a right or privilege.

Fast-forward to 2024, Paxton is leading the charge for Texas, along with Kobach, in a multi-state coalition to defend the constitutional right to privately buy and sell firearms.

The new ATF policy proposed by the Biden administration would require people who sell guns primarily for profit to register as licensed dealers, regardless of where the transactions take place, requiring them to do background checks.

“Yet again, Joe Biden is weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to rip up the Constitution and destroy our citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” Paxton said. “This is a dramatic escalation of his tyrannical abuse of authority. With today’s lawsuit, it is my great honor to defend our Constitutionally-protected freedoms from the out-of-control federal government.”