The threat of a shot "to the face" turns out to be a political shot in the arm for Ben Baker

"When I come to the US I'm going to be hunting you, 1 shot, 1 kill. Right to the face."

That is the message left on the Facebook page of Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho after the news broke that he sponsored the Parental Oversight of Libraries Act.

There will be some who say it is only poetic justice that an elected official who equates guns (the bigger the better) with manhood would be threatened with gun violence.

Don't count me in the number who think that.

Death threats are wrong no matter who is making them and no matter who the intended target is.

That being said, Ben Baker has certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of that one threat.

Baker reported the threat to the Capitol Police in Jefferson City at 8:35 a.m. January 17. One hour and six minutes later, Baker posted the following on his Twitter account:

Here’s the world we live in today. Try to protect children from age inappropriate content in our libraries and in response get death threats. It seems we no longer live in a society where you can have civil discourse about ideas. #Isaiahfivetwenty #HB2044

The message left the distinct impression Baker had received multiple death threats. And while that may well be the case, this is the only one Baker had reported to the Capitol Police

Baker has done nothing to correct that initial Twitter misconception. Instead, he has used these "threats" as an indictment against anyone who opposes this plan.

The impression that Baker has received multiple death threats has been spread far and wide through conservative media outlets that have been quick to latch onto the idea that the only people who could possibly be opposed to Baker's bill are people who want to provide inappropriate material to minors and heaven help us, the stuff of Ben Baker's nightmares- drag queens.

On Facebook the same day of the threat, Baker came right out and said it was multiple death threats:

I’m now getting death threats for trying to protect our children. Let that sink in...We live in a messed up world.

The investigation into the initial death threat did not turn up much. It came from a fake Facebook account, which appeared designed to make it seem as if it belonged to someone from Australia.

I sincerely hope that the police are able to catch the person who made the threat and that he is punished.

Above all, I hope there is no way, whether this person is from Australia, the U. S. or elsewhere, that he is able to somehow find a way to get hold of a gun.

Thankfully, we have Ben Baker and our state legislature to prevent something like that from happening.