Republicans continue to try and stump for their agenda across the United States, and it keeps blowing back on them. This week, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot slammed Republican Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Twitter after he claimed that gun violence statistics in her city proved that “gun control doesn’t work,” considering the high rate even considering gun control in place in the city. President Donald Trump himself has attempted to use this line of reasoning against Chicago before — but as Lightfoot pointed out, a large portion of the firearms recovered in her city are actually from outside of the city.
Gun control isn’t going to be as effective as it could if Republicans in surrounding jurisdictions refuse to let the plan get fully implemented and then angrily point at the resulting situation as proof the plan was never going to work. Lightfoot tweeted, responding directly to a complaint from Cruz:
‘60% of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation. Keep our name out of your mouth. When @tedcruz and the @gop dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear.’
60% of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation. Keep our name out of your mouth. https://t.co/yVM4JHL3xy pic.twitter.com/pr613A3dpf
— Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019
In response to a piece from Brietbart News that made a totally irrelevant connection between the number of gun violence incidents in the already large city of Chicago and their largely Democratic leadership, Cruz had posted to Twitter:
‘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.’
Remarkably enough, almost two percent of guns recovered in Chicago come from Cruz’s own state of Texas, according to the data Lightfoot shared. The two locations are far apart from each other on the map of the United States — and yet guns proliferate in Texas so much, that some make it all the way into Chicago, Illinois, and the hands of police confiscating them for whatever reason.
The point of the gun control legislation that Democrats and their allies have pushed for, including universal background checks for gun purchases, is not the disarming of law-abiding citizens or whatever Cruz throws out. It’s to keep tidal waves of guns from flowing across America.
Check out Twitter’s response.
Featured Image via screenshot
