Army vet who gave up AR-15s in viral Facebook post threatened with death and rape of his 14-year-old daughter

A veteran of the US Army who became a viral sensation over the weekend by posting pictures of himself trading in his AR-15s into Miami police officers is being deluged with death threats. HE says that "unhinged" pro-gun supporters are also threatening to rape his 14-year-old daughter.

On Saturday, Steve Hemmert of Miami, shared a picture of himself turning over his weapons as part of a local police department buy-back program.

Writing on the Facebook post, Hemmert stated, "With some hesitation born of nostalgia, I turned in two AR style rifles to the Miami Police Department as part of their gun buy-back program today .. As a former U.S. Army Infantry officer, have always considered myself a responsible gun owner. My 14 year old daughter and I built one of the ARs- from scratch- together."

"But after the events of last month, I have decided enough is enough," he continued. "How can we, as parents, force our kids to live in a world where they have to be afraid of being killed at school? My daughter recently told me that her plan is to only wear sneakers to school from now on, in case she needs to run. And I realize that, unlike some of my neighbors, I am lucky to still HAVE a 14 year old daughter."

Speaking with Newsweek, Hemmert says that, while he received a flood of praise for his decision, that he and his daughter are now on the receiving end of "deeply disturbing" death and rape threats.

"I hope someone breaks into your house and rapes your daughter,” wrote one Facebook user according to screenshots provided to Newsweek by Hemmert. “While she is being raped I hope she looks up and says, daddy where’s the gun we built? Where!!!!”

According to the veteran, he has also received threats from 2nd Amendment supporters who say they are going to shoot his dog and that someone has been harassing his girlfriend by calling her cellphone.

“There has been a substantial negative and very ugly response," Hemmert elaborated. "The thing that I have learned over the past three days is that there are a lot of unhinged people who own AR-15s, and I am convinced now more than ever that those people really should not be trusted with anything more dangerous than a butter knife.”

You can read the report here.