Ted Cruz on Gun Control Republican Texas Senator

Led fight not to ban assault weapons

Ted Cruz (R): No. Led fight not to ban assault weapons. Calls gun control efforts "tiresome."

Beto O'Rourke (D): Yes. Supports universal background checks & banning assault-style weapons.

Purpose of Second Amendment is protection against tyranny

It may be tempting to write off Walsh's latest proclamation. But this sentiment--that a Donald Trump loss might justify the violent overthrow of a Hillary Clinton administration--is a longtime GOP talking point. The NRA has longed peddled the "insurrectionist" theory of the Second Amendment, arguing that the right to bear arms was intended to protect citizens against a tyrannical ruler.

This insurrectionist theory has gained a foothold in the Republican Party. During his campaign for the presidential nomination, Texas Republican Ted Cruz asserted that the Second Amendment provides "a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny--for the protection of liberty."

Lack of individual right to guns leads to confiscation

Obama is coming for our guns

Enforce gun laws on dangerously mentally ill

The president could have come out and pressed for stronger law enforcement efforts targeting violent criminals and dangerous individuals with significant mental illnesses. Had he done so, the effort would have been met with bipartisan agreement and swift action in Congress. Instead, the president decided to use this tragedy as an excuse to further his long-standing goals of restricting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Assault weapon bans have had ZERO impact on crime

I recall in the middle of the debate, my wife asked quite innocently, "Should people really be carrying machine guns everywhere they go?" She was surprised when I told her that fully automatic weapons have been effectively illegal for general possession since 1934.

With a confused look, she then asked, "Well, what is an assault weapon then?" I replied that the most accurate definition of an assault weapon under the Democrats' legislation is "any gun that looks scary." The definition has nothing to do with the firing capacity of the weapon. It has nothing to do with the lethality of the weapon. It simply has to do with whether the gun looks like the sort of weapon our soldiers carry into battle.

Criminals like nothing better than unarmed victims

Similarly, Australia recently followed the path of President Obama and the Democrats, responding to a terrible shooting by banning handguns altogether. The results have been disturbing. Since banning handguns, sexual assaults and rapes in Australia have skyrocketed, because there are a few things a criminal likes better than an unarmed victim.

2nd Amendment is ultimate check against government tyranny

[Other Republicans assert similar sentiments]: Rick Santorum has said, "The Second Amendment is there to protect the First Amendment!" Rand Paul is an ardent defender of the Second Amendment. Rick Perry is an NRA supporter and Second Amendment advocate

Stand-your-ground laws are not veiled racism

Served as lawyer for the National Rifle Association

The firm was nine months old and had only six lawyers. Cruz was the first new associate the partners recruited. Cooper has long been the outside counsel to the National Rifle Association, and, he recalled, "Ted was basically my lieutenant on all N.R.A. matters."

Prosecute felons who try to illegally purchase guns

• The Obama administration has not made it a priority to prosecute felons and fugitives who try to illegally purchase guns. Indeed, in 2010, 48,321 fugitives and felons tried to illegally purchase firearms. The Obama administration prosecuted just 44. Forty-four out of 48,321.
• Under Obama, gun crime prosecutions hit a decade low in 2011--down 30% from their record high in 2004.
• Obama's budgets have slashed funding for school safety. If the objective were to stop violent gun crime, the approach would be to target felons, gun-crime prosecution and school safety.

Target violent criminals with serious mental illnesses

The Grassley-Cruz legislation had the most bipartisan support of all the gun proposals. But the Democrats, led by Reid, filibustered and killed the bill. Why? They wanted instead to pass legislation that would extend the background check system to private sales. Their bill would not have allocated one penny to prosecuting felons, fugitives or gun crimes. And gun registration has historically been the predicate for gun confiscation.

Americans are understandably reluctant to take any steps down a path toward a federal gun registry. Instead, we should protect the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens. And we should do what works: targeting felons, fugitives and gun crime and improving school safety.

Opposes unreasonable and burdensome gun restrictions

• Authored a brief on behalf of 31 states supporting the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms
• Argued against unreasonable and burdensome gun restrictions
• Honored by a 2008 resolution passed by the National Board of the NRA, thanking Ted for leading the States before the Supreme Court in the DC gun case, and noting that his "efforts made this victory for the American people possible."

Voted NO on banning high-capacity magazines of over 10 bullets.

• The term 'large capacity ammunition feeding device' means a magazine or similar device that has an overall capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition
• It shall be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, or possess a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
• Shall not apply to the possession of any large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise lawfully possessed before 2013.
• Shall not apply to qualified or retired law enforcement officers.

Proponent's Argument for voting Yes: Sen. BLUMENTHAL: This amendment would ban high-capacity magazines which are used to kill more people more quickly and, in fact, have been used in more than half the mass shootings since 1982. I ask my colleagues to listen to law enforcement, their police, prosecutors who are outgunned by criminals who use these high-capacity magazines. I ask that my colleagues also listen to the families of those killed by people who used a high-capacity magazine.

Opponent's Argument for voting No: Sen. GRASSLEY. I oppose the amendment. In 2004, which is the last time we had the large-capacity magazine ban, a Department of Justice study found no evidence banning such magazines has led to a reduction in gun violence. The study also concluded it is not clear how often the outcomes of the gun attack depend on the ability of offenders to fire more than 10 shots without reloading. Secondly, there is no evidence banning these magazines has reduced the deaths from gun crimes. In fact, when the previous ban was in effect, a higher percentage of gun crime victims were killed or wounded than before it was adopted. Additionally, tens of millions of these magazines have been lawfully owned in this country for decades. They are in common use, not unusually dangerous, and used by law-abiding citizens in self-defense, as in the case of law enforcement.

Opposes restricting the Second Amendment.

Christian Coalition publishes a number of special voter educational materials including the Christian Coalition Voter Guides, which provide voters with critical information about where candidates stand on important faith and family issues. The Christian Coalition Voters Guide summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Further restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms"

Oppose the United Nations' Arms Trade Treaty.

Dear President Obama:

We write to express our concern and regret at your decision to sign the United Nations' Arms Trade Treaty. For the following reasons, we cannot give our advice and consent to this treaty:

1. The treaty violates a 2009 red line laid down by your own administration: "the rule of consensus decision-making." In April 2013, after the treaty failed to achieve consensus, it was adopted by majority vote in the UN General Assembly.
2. The treaty allows amendments by a 3/4 majority vote. When amended, it will become a source of political and legal pressure on the US to comply in practice with amendments it was unwilling to accept.
3. The treaty includes only a weak, non-binding reference to the lawful ownership and use of firearms, and recognizes none of these activities, much less individual self-defense, as fundamental individual rights. It encourages governments to collect the identities of individual end users of imported firearms at the national level, which would constitute the core of a national gun registry
4. The State Department has acknowledged that the treaty is "ambiguous." By becoming party to the treaty, the US would therefore be accepting commitments that are inherently unclear.
5. The criteria at the heart of the treaty are vague and easily politicized. They will steadily subject the US to the influence of internationally-defined norms, a process that would impinge on our national sovereignty.
6. The treaty criteria as established could hinder the US in fulfilling its strategic, legal, and moral commitments to provide arms to key allies such as Taiwan and Israel.

Reciprocity across state lines for concealed carry.

Press release in support: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) cosponsored legislation to allow law-abiding citizens with concealed carry privileges to take firearms across state lines. Hyde-Smith has added her support to the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (S.446), which would allow qualified individuals to carry a concealed handgun into another state in accordance with that state's laws. Concealed carry permits are not transferrable between states under current law.

"For law-abiding gun owners with concealed carry permits, this legislation would affirm their ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights in other states with right-to-carry laws," Hyde-Smith said. "This is sensible legislation that recognizes states' authority to issue firearms licenses and permits, while supporting the rights of gun owners."

Boston Globe Op-Ed (12/14/17) in opposition, by Mayor Marty Walsh: We're grateful for the common-sense laws that help us do our jobs. We will fight any national policy that threatens to send us backward. That includes a bill called the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. It would force each state to recognize the concealed-carry standards of every other state, even those with dramatically weaker standards for who can get their hands on a gun. Given that the gun lobby has blocked the creation of a national database, it would be extremely difficult for local police to determine whether those out-of-state permits were even legitimate. Law enforcement all over the country strongly opposes this legislation.

If the US Senate passes Concealed Carry Reciprocity, people from other states who have criminal histories, who would never pass a background check in Massachusetts, would be able to carry a loaded, concealed gun into our neighborhoods. We know this is a bad idea. Our police officers, our neighbors, and the responsible gun owners of Boston agree.