Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blamed declining church attendance, violent video games, prescription drugs, social media bullying and other societal factors — but not guns — for the wave of mass shootings in the U.S. during an address to National Rifle Association (NRA) members on Friday.
“We know that many of these who seek to commit the most heinous crimes, they’re isolated from human contact,” Cruz said. “They’re living a virtual life in the absence of community of community and faith and love.”
During the event, located a short drive away from the Uvalde, Texas, massacre that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults, Cruz called on Congress to enhance security at schools, but reiterated his opposition to any efforts to tighten gun laws.
“What stops armed bad guys is armed good guys,” he said, arguing that lawmakers’ proposal to expand background checks on gun sales wouldn’t prevent most mass murders.
Cruz called for every school to have a single point of entry guarded by multiple armed police officers, or if need be, military veterans. He added that schools should have bulletproof and locking doors to each classroom.
The Texas senator also criticized Democrats for rejecting an amendment offered by Cruz and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) following the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting that would have created a federal task force to prosecute those who illegally attempt to purchase firearms.
Two Republicans and all but nine Democrats voted against the measure, which would have also allowed for interstate firearm sales and transportation and restricted some individuals from owning firearms.
The U.S. is the only major developed nation that regularly experiences mass shootings, and Tuesday’s massacre has sparked renewed calls for tighter gun laws.
A recent Morning Consult poll found that a whopping 88 percent of Americans support expanded background checks on gun sales. Still, Cruz and other prominent Republicans, who blocked House-passed bills to expand background checks, have continued to oppose any legislation to tighten gun laws.
Gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety says that background checks have prevented 4 million gun sales to felons and others who are barred from buying them, but 22 percent of Americans purchase guns without a background check.