Wednesday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Hannity,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) criticized Democrat efforts to crack down on gun violence using red flag laws and other measures he deemed “unconstitutional.”
According to the Texas Republican, by disarming some in the public with a low standard of proof made them less safe.
“Well, Sean, I agree with you, and tragically, we’ve seen the same pattern play out over and over again,” he said. “Every time there is a horrific mass murder, there have been far too many of them. I was in Uvalde the day after that horrific attack when that psychopath murdered 19 children and two teachers. And it is horrific. We need to stop them. But instantaneously, when there’s a criminal attack, a mass murder, we have a debate in Washington, and there are two approaches. One approach is target the bad guys, target the criminals, target the violent felons and those with serious mental illness who try to illegally buy firearms. Prosecute them, put them in jail, get them off the street and keep people safe, and that also includes protecting vulnerable places like schools and churches with police officers.”
“That’s an approach that works,” Cruz continued. “That’s an approach that makes sense. The other approach, the approach of the Democrats, is to try to take away firearms from law-abiding citizens, to try to go after the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. And that approach is unconstitutional, but it also doesn’t work. It’s completely ineffective in stopping violent crime. And so this particular bill that we’re going to be voting on this week, I think, is misguided. I think it’s a mistake. You mentioned the red flag laws. Those red flag laws provide an opportunity to disarm law-abiding citizens in many states with a very low standard of proof, with little to no due process protections, and I think that is not going to prevent violent crime, but it is going to make people more vulnerable and less able to defend their homes and their families.”
“Just today, I introduce legislation with John Barrasso, that is, it’s called the Cruz-Barrasso legislation, and it’s focused on stopping violent crime,” he added. “It’s focused on funding prosecutors that if you commit a violent crime with a gun, you’re going to be prosecuted by the Department of Justice and sent to federal prison. If you try to illegally buy a gun, if you’re a felon or fugitive, and you try to illegally buy a gun, you’re going to be prosecuted and sent to federal prison. And this bill provides $36 billion for funding over 10 years for police officers, armed police officers, and schools it doubles the number of police officers in schools. It provides $10 billion in funding for mental health counselors, so if you have a kid that has serious mental health issues, you stop him early before he commits the crime. This is the approach that makes sense. And critically, my legislation, Cruz-Barrasso, doesn’t infringe in any way on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. It’s targeted at the bad guys, and it keeps you and me and the rest of us safe.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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