There's a slim chance of criminal or attorney disciplinary consequences for a Texas lawyer-politician, who caused controversy with a tweet about assault rifles aimed at Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke.

After the Democratic debate in Houston on Thursday, where O'Rourke expressed support for banning assault rifles, the candidate tweeted, "Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR-15."

And Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, replied, "My AR is ready for you, Robert Francis"—O'Rourke's first and middle names.

"This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly, you shouldn't own an AR-15—and neither should anyone else," O'Rourke responded on Twitter.

Read the tweets: 

Cain told Texas Lawyer that he did not make a real threat.

"Beto knows that," he said. "He's just a failed politician grasping."

Friday morning, Cain wrote on Facebook, "The unofficial motto of Texas has long been, 'Come and take it.' If you don't understand that, Robert Francis, you've spent too much time in D.C."

No one from the O'Rourke campaign immediately responded to an email seeking comment.

Cain earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law in 2012 and was licensed to practice in Texas in 2013, said his State Bar of Texas profile. He continued in private practice, while holding public office, because it's normal for Texas legislators to keep outside employment. The Texas Legislature meets only on odd-numbered years, and lawmakers receive just a small stipend for their service. Cain has remained a senior attorney at Fulton Strahan in Houston, where he practices business litigation, and serves as an outside general counsel, said his law firm biography.

Just rhetoric?

But lawyers doubt Cain's tweet will lead to attorney disciplinary consequences.

Legal ethics attorney Chuck Herring said it would depend upon whether Cain's conduct rises to the level of criminal conduct. Texas disciplinary rules prohibit an attorney from committing a serious crime, or any other criminal act, which reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as an officer of the court.

Cain's tweet is "sort of a threat," Herring said.

"But is it a criminal threat?" he asked. "It could just be rhetoric."

San Antonio solo practitioner Carl Kolb, who focuses on legal ethics and legal malpractice law, said Cain's risk of facing attorney discipline would be greater, if he were convicted of making a terroristic threat because of the tweet. Kolb said he doubts that will happen, because even though Cain's tweet was provocative, it did not seem to make an imminent threat to harm O'Rourke.

"If he made a statement that … involved a threat to use force, such as an assault weapon, I think that does reflect adversely on a lawyer's fitness to practice, and it raises an issue under 8.04(2) of the disciplinary rules," Kolb said.

Austin legal ethics solo practitioner Jim McCormack wrote in an email it's premature to speculate on attorney discipline against Cain without waiting to see if he's charged with a crime. Only a few misdemeanors and felonies involving moral turpitude would count as a "serious crime" under the disciplinary rules, he explained.

"By the way, 'felonies involving moral turpitude' refers broadly to a wide range of crimes, including crimes involving theft, dishonesty and violence," McCormack said. "It is also clear that professional discipline, in these instances, is not limited to only crimes committed in the course of practicing law."