This story begins with musician Jason Isbell chiming in on the latest gun control debate after a weekend in which two mass shootings occurred.
If you’re on here arguing the definition of “assault weapon” today you are part of the problem. You know what an assault weapon is, and you know you don’t need one.
And here is where it all went left, when self-proclaimed libertarian William McNabb responded to Isbell's point with a "legit" question.
"How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 minutes while my small kids play?" asked McNabb.
First, 30 to 50 feral hogs, you say?
McNabb, from South Arkansas, confirmed that his tweet was entirely serious, and went on to tell intrigued people online that the case of 30–50 feral hogs running through his yard had occurred "4 times" and how he had killed 3 hogs in the past.
@ronhorsley @JasonIsbell In subsequent replies I answered this - it’s happened 4 times. I do not own an assault rifle - never said I did. Some of my neighbors do and from personal experience - I can see how it helped them. I simply posed a real question from my own experiences.
For the benefit of those who mocked him, McNabb shared a 2017 news segment on the problem of wild hogs in the Texas area, which, according to the report, are blamed for $100 million in property damage.
View this video on YouTube
Whereupon...we cue the memes!
There were song lyrics...
hey now you're a hog star get your game on eat kids hey now you're a hog star In my yard in 5 mins They're attacking in teams only shooting hogs stops the screams
take me down to the paradise city where the hogs are feral and there's 30-50
Classic memes...
In ~72 hours this will be completely incomprehensible
bröther may i run into the yärd
I am: ⚪️ Gay ⚪️ Straight 🔘 30-50 Feral Hogs Looking for: ⚪️ Money ⚪️ Love 🔘 Small kids in a yard
The return of some bad takes...
far more people die from the flu than from 30 to 50 feral hogs. Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data,
Some simply great tweets...
30-50 feral hogs? sounds like my dating history lmao
When you can’t see 30-50 feral hogs but you know they out there
30-50 feral hogs?! At this time of year At this time of day In this part of the country Localized entirely within your backyard with your small kids?
my therapist: 30-50 feral hogs can't hurt you, they aren't real 30-50 feral hogs: *in my yard, threatening my children*
"Pretty big hog front moving in from the Great Lakes. Expect 30-50 feral hogs for your weekend"
McNabb's hog drama even inspired some literary genius, including a draft for a Simpsons episode from the show's writer Bill Oakley.
And a golden thread of fiction from Twitter user @RedDave92.
@WillieMcNabb @JasonIsbell *I take a long drag from my cigarette as I stare out of my foxhole, hollow eyed at the treeline. The distant sounds of oinking coming nearer and nearer as the sun sets. The cold steel of my AR-15 the only thing that stands between those hogs and my kids behind me.
OK, so, jokes aside, while this may be a very real American problem for landowners, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, hunting is not "effective at eliminating feral hogs", so McNabb may want to reconsider his defence for owning an assault weapon.
