Chicago Mayor Lashes Out at Ted Cruz over Gun-Control Comments: ‘Keep Our Name Out of Your Mouth’
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot lashed out at Senator Ted Cruz Tuesday in response to Cruz’s suggestion that her city’s decades-long struggle with gun violence proves the futility of stringent gun-control legislation.
Lightfoot told Cruz to “keep our name out of your mouth” after the Texas Republican pointed out that Chicago’s gun-control regime, one of the strictest in the country, failed to prevent a series of deadly shootings over the weekend.
Gun control doesn’t work. Look at Chicago. Disarming law-abiding citizens isn’t the answer. Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. Let’s protect our citizens. https://t.co/znHO31gDH2
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
In response, Lightfoot noted that the majority of illegal guns recovered in the city can be traced to surrounding, Republican-controlled states, which lack stringent gun-control measures.
When @tedcruz and the @gop dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear.
— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019
The confrontation comes amid a flurry of mass shootings that have resulted in heightened partisan debates over the merits of various gun-control proposals.
Democratic presidential aspirant Beto O’Rourke reiterated his support for a federal AR-15-purchasing program in which tens of thousands of Americans would voluntarily turn in their weapons, and those who refused would be subject to criminal prosecution.
“I want to be really clear that that’s exactly what we are going to do,” the former Texas congressman said when asked to respond to voters concerned about being forcibly disarmed by the government. “Americans who own AR-15s, AK-47s, will have to sell them to the government.”
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that he would bring to the floor any gun-control legislation that was supported by the White House.
The administration “is in the process of studying what they’re prepared to support, if anything,” McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I expect to get an answer to that next week. If the president is in favor of a number of things that he has discussed openly and publicly and I know that if we pass it, it will become law, I’ll put it on the floor.”
