Ocasio-Cortez Says Dan Crenshaw's Friends Have 'Likely Abused Their Spouse or Have a Violent Criminal Record'
Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York took a shot Wednesday at one of her fellow freshman lawmakers, Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
It all started when Crenshaw responded to the story of a woman who fended off a pair of would-be robbers with her handgun.
Crenshaw noted on Twitter that “situations like this story are why we protect the 2nd Amendment.”
Referring to calls for universal background checks in response to several recent mass shootings, Crenshaw added: “Side note: With universal background checks, I wouldn’t be able to let my friends borrow my handgun when they travel alone like this.”
Situations like this story are why we protect the 2nd Amendment.
Side note: With universal background checks, I wouldn’t be able to let my friends borrow my handgun when they travel alone like this. We would make felons out of people just for defending themselves. https://t.co/x60mdd1WW1
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) September 4, 2019
“We would make felons out of people just for defending themselves,” he added.
But his words caught the ire of Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared to assert Wednesday that the friends he’d be lending his handgun to are “likely” spousal abusers or violent criminals.
“You are a member of Congress. Why are you ‘lending’ guns to people unsupervised who can’t pass a basic background check?” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
You are a member of Congress. Why are you “lending” guns to people unsupervised who can’t pass a basic background check?
The people you’re giving a gun to have likely abused their spouse or have a violent criminal record, & you may not know it.
Why on earth would you do that? https://t.co/TQFjcLQebO
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 4, 2019
“The people you’re giving a gun to have likely abused their spouse or have a violent criminal record, & you may not know it,” she added.
“Why on earth would you do that?”
As The Hill pointed out, different states have varying laws on the books when it comes to lending out firearms.
Federal law, however, makes it illegal to transfer a firearm to a person while “knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person” has been convicted of a felony punishable by more than a year behind bars, is a substance abuser, is an illegal alien, has known mental health issues, has been convicted of domestic violence or has been subject to a restraining order against an “intimate partner” or child.
Crenshaw, meanwhile, previously pointed out Tuesday that a universal background check policy may not have even prevented the mass shooting last week in Odessa, Texas.
“This is the 1st mass shooting where a universal background check *possibly* would have prevented him from having a gun, if and only if, they decided to self-enforce that law,” Crenshaw tweeted.
This is the 1st mass shooting where a universal background check *possibly* would have prevented him from having a gun, if and only if, they decided to self-enforce that law.
Guys who shoot cops tend not to self-enforce laws.
And we don’t make sweeping policy on one situation. https://t.co/RlJ2S3Anau
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) September 4, 2019
“Guys who shoot cops tend not to self-enforce laws. And we don’t make sweeping policy on one situation.”
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