In the aftermath of the latest mass shooting, the Democrat gun-grabbers are out in full force. This, despite the fact that in the case of Devin Patrick, it wasn’t a case of a lack of laws that allowed the nut-job to purchase weapons, but a complete failure to enforce the ones already on the books.
Despite this fact, leftists are once again clamoring to take our guns away, demanding stricter laws and an erosion of our freedoms. However, the irony in this incident is that while liberals claim more laws would have stopped the shooting, a law that Democrats in Texas opposed back in 2013 likely would have prevented the attack. Senator Ted Cruz spoke about this on Fox News Monday, asking liberals why, if they’re so concerned about guns, did they block the bill back then.
As reported at Breitbart, Cruz (R-TX) criticized Democrats for filibustering the Grassley-Cruz legislation in 2013 that “would have resulted in this shooter being in federal prison instead of murdering those innocents in that Texas church.”
Cruz said, “[T]his should have been stopped beforehand. Under federal law, it was illegal for this individual to purchase a firearm. He had a conviction for a crime that’s punishable by more than a year in prison, and he had a conviction for multiple domestic violence crimes. Both of those, it’s already ineligible. But, several things happened: Number one, the air force — the Obama administration didn’t report those convictions to the [NICS] database. That’s an endemic problem. It’s a problem with the federal government. It’s a problem with the states. And so, when he went in to buy the guns, they ran the background check, and they didn’t find it because it wasn’t in the database. But I’ll tell you we could have prevented this. In 2013, in the wake of Sandy Hook, I joined with Chuck Grassley, we introduced legislation that was called the Grassley-Cruz legislation. And it was aggressive legislation targeting felons and violent criminals to stop them from getting guns.”
But Cruz wasn’t finished laying the smack down on leftists.
He continued, saying, “There were a couple elements of that legislation that were critical: One, it mandated that federal agencies, including the Air Force, report to the [NICS] because that was a problem back then. But, two, and this is an even more critical piece, if it had been reported to the background database, when he went into Academy to buy this — these weapons, he lied on the forms. That is a felony to lie on those forms. The Obama administration didn’t prosecute those cases. In 2010, 48,000 felons and fugitives lied and illegally tried to purchase guns. They prosecuted only 44 of them.”
Cruz concluded, “Democrats filibustered the legislation that would have resulted in this shooter being in federal prison instead of murdering those innocents in that Texas church.”
Everything Cruz said is accurate. Even without the law Democrats filibustered, had the Air Force done its job, he would have failed any background check. Add in the law they blocked, and Patrick would have been in a prison cell instead of enjoying life as a free man.
The guy had a long, violent history that more than proved he was a scumbag. Instead of passing more laws that affect law-abiding citizens, we should first enforce the ones on the books, and at the same time, start addressing the mental health epidemic that’s plaguing our nation.
Source: Breitbart