Cruz & Trump at NRA: Mass Shooter a ‘monster,’ but ‘rarely has the Second Amendment been More Necessary’
Cruz spoke at NRA event three days after 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at elementary school in Texas
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Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday, days after a mass shooting in his state, told a silent crowd at an annual National Rifle Association event in Houston that Texans have too often “seen the face of evil” when it comes to such deadly attacks but “rarely has the Second Amendment been more important.”
Cruz spoke at the NRA event three days after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the Texas town of Uvalde, which made the gun-rights group’s annual summit an especially politically charged event, with protesters outside the venue as the gates opened.
“There are no words to describe a monster who enters a school and murderers, little children, 19 little kids,” Cruz said. “The entire state, the entire country, is horrified and grieving. And it is an evil that has happened too many damn times. In the last several years, especially. Texas has repeatedly seen the face of evil.”
While Cruz condemned such gun violence – to the point of refusing to call the now-deceased shooter Tuesday by his name – he urged those in attendance not to give up the fight to protect gun rights and argued that strict guns law, including the those in some of the country’s most liberal cities, have not curbed gun violence.
“Rarely has the Second Amendment been more necessary to secure the rights of our fellow citizens,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to moralize about guns and to shrink about those you disagree with politically. But it’s never been about guns.
“We know that places with some of the most restrictive gun laws – places like Chicago and Baltimore and Washington D.C. – don’t have less gun violence. Indeed, they contain some of the most dangerous communities on the face of the earth.”
Still, with an evenly-divided Senate likely making it even tougher to pass legislation to address mass shootings while protecting gun rights, Cruz called for a solution.
“As President Obama said this week, ‘It is long past time for action, any kind of action. Do something.’ And here perhaps to the surprise of some I emphatically agree.
“There have been too damn many of these killings and we must act decisively to stop them,” he said, while arguing tougher background checks and the banning of so-called assault rifles have yet to prove to be the solution.
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Trump honors Texas victims, slams sending $40 billion to Ukraine before securing U.S. schools
Former president reads names of Texas victims, says cops ‘took too long’ to stop Uvalde shooter.
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Former President Donald Trump waded Friday into the Texas school shooting, poignantly reading aloud the names of each victim while chiding policymakers for sending $40 billion to aid Ukraine before fully securing America’s schools.
Speaking before the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Houston about 300 miles from the Uvalde tragedy, Trump listed the resources he believes are needed to secure schools, such as having armed officers and letting “highly trained” teachers carry concealed weapons.
He also said that every police department in America needs training for active shooter protocols to immediately eliminate attackers. “Took too long,” he said, referencng the reportedly 40 to 60 minutes that law enforcement waited before going into the school and fatally shooting the gunman.
He said that increasing police funding was a matter of will, not resources
“If we have $40 billion to go to Ukraine, we should do whatever it takes to keep our children safe at home,” Trump said.
He started off his speech Friday at the National Rifle Association’s annual summit in Texas by taking a jab at GOP Gov. Greg Abbott for not appearing in person.
Trump said that “unlike some,” he “didn’t disappoint” the audience by not showing up.
Abbott decided on Thursday night to skip the NRA summit and make a return trip to Uvalde, the town in which a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside the Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.
The Texas governor recorded video remarks that will be shown at the NRA event instead of making an in-person appearance.
Trump also began his speech with reading the names of all the victims of the school shooting, calling “each soul taken” an “incomprehensible loss.” He called the shooting a “horrible, savage, barbaric tragedy that shocks the conscience of every single American.”
The former president said that now is the time to find common ground as Americans mourn for the victims and pray for those who lost loved ones. But, he noted that before the day of the shooting ended, “cynical politicians” took advantage of the situation to attack Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
Trump remarked that “Biden blamed the gun lobby” and said that Republicans are somehow okay with school shootings happening. “They’re not,” he said.
Trump added that the existence of evil is the best reason to arm law-abiding citizens.
He mentioned how the root causes of school shootings must be addressed, such as mental illness and broken families.
Trump also mentioned providing more funding to police, strengthening qualified immunity, and securing the border to prevent crime.
The former president also discussed the high crime rate that has resulted from Democrat policies such as gun-free school zones, letting violent criminals out without bail, and progressive prosecutors.
GETTR CEO Jason Miller posted on his GETTR account following Trump’s speech, “That was the most powerful speech delivered by a U.S. President since January 20, 2021. #MAGA”
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(TLB) published this article with permission of John Solomon at Just the News. Click Here to read about the staff at Just the News
Emphasis added by (TLB) editors
Header featured image (edited) credit: Cruz/Trump/Getty Images/TLB Staff
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