Ted Cruz Calmly Shuts Down Every Leftist Who Says Gun Ownership Isn't a God-Given Right
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz offered Alyssa Milano a history lesson Sunday after the actress and leftist activist criticized the Second Amendment on Twitter.
Milano was responding to a Texas state lawmaker, Rep. Matt Schaefer, who had vowed to protect the “God-given rights” of gun ownership.
“Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun?” Milano replied.
Can someone cite which passage of the Bible God states it is a god-given right to own a gun? This guy is unbelievable and is clearly owned by the gun lobby. #NoRA https://t.co/PxVV1RoV2Z
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 1, 2019
Cruz responded to the activist’s tweet in earnest, writing that Milano’s question was “excellent” and “worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter.”
An excellent Q, worth considering carefully w/o the snark of Twitter. It is of course not the right to a modern-day firearm that is God-give but rather the right to Life & the right to Liberty. Essential to that right to life is the right to DEFEND your life & your family. 1/x https://t.co/8pjstMGrGB
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 1, 2019
The exchange began after a gunman killed at least seven people in a mass shooting Saturday in West Texas. Schaefer sought to assure his constituents that he was “NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans.”
I am NOT going to use the evil acts of a handful of people to diminish the God-given rights of my fellow Texans. Period. None of these so-called gun-control solutions will work to stop a person with evil intent. 2/6
— Matt Schaefer (@RepMattSchaefer) September 1, 2019
The lawmaker’s conservative stance prompted the response from Milano, which in turn led to Cruz’s thoughtful reply.
The Republican senator began by offering a biblical example of a law protecting the right to self-defense.
2/x The right to self-defense is recognized repeatedly in the Bible, eg Exodus 22:2: “If a thief is caught breaking in at night & is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed.” (Note, though, verse 3 says it IS murder if during daylight (ie, not self-defense).
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 1, 2019
Cruz went on to explain that the Second Amendment is a natural consequence of the Declaration of Independence’s statement that rights come from our “Creator,” not from other men.
3/x The Declaration of Independence acknowledges our rights thusly: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
The right to bear arms, therefore, is no mere endorsement of hunting or target shooting; it is a mechanism for Americans to protect something much more important — the “unalienable” right to life.
4/x And, for that reason, the Second Amendment provides “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT be infringed.” It wasn’t to protect people’s ability to hunt, or to shoot target practice, but to defend their lives, their homes & their families.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
Cruz wasn’t done. He gave an example of a gun being used to stop a murderer and save lives, from Texas’ own Sutherland Springs shooting.
5/x Stephen Willeford exercised that fundamental right when he risked his own life to stop the Sutherland Springs murderer, saving countless others as a result.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
The senator also cited an early American academic who agreed that a right to bear arms was fundamental to freedom. Proving his point, Cruz reminded his followers of how the KKK sought to disarm African-Americans after the Civil War.
6/x St. George Tucker, one of the most important scholars in early America, explained the reasons behind the Second Amendment as follows: “This may be considered as the true palladium of liberty. . . . The right of self defence is the first law of nature….”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
7/x “…in most govts it has been the study of rulers to confine this right w/in the narrowest limits possible. Wherever…the right…to keep & bear arms is, under any…pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
8/x That’s also why, post Civil War, disarming Black Americans was a critical objective of the KKK, and was memorialized in countless Jim Crow laws—to strip African-Americans of their God-given right to self-defense from violence.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
Cruz concluded with a warning against “playing politics” with events like mass shootings, calling out “some 2020 Dems” for proposing “forcible gun confiscation.”
9/x I’m a Texan. What happened in Midland-Odessa—and El Paso, Santa Fe & Sutherland Springs—was sick, deranged & horrifying. We need to do MUCH more to stop violent criminals & those w/ dangerous mental illness BEFORE they murder & I’m leading the fight in the Senate to do so.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
10/x Playing politics w/ these deranged crimes—and trying to use them as an excuse to violate the constl rights of law-abiding citizens—won’t make anybody safer. Forcible gun confiscation (as some 2020 Dems urge) won’t prevent mass-murders. But it would weaken our self-defense.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019
Milano was unable to respond to Cruz’s comments civilly, telling the senator that she wanted Americans to hear his “bulls— 1st hand.”
While the actress’ flippant response was nothing new for Twitter (as Cruz himself seemed to recognize), debates on gun legislation don’t have to be uncouth.
America’s gun debate needs more contributions like Cruz’s — and less partisan blustering from uncouth celebrity activists.
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