Ocasio-Cortez slams Dan Crenshaw for resisting background checks for gun control: 'Try to keep up'
Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) on Wednesday, engaged in a Twitter spat over calls for universal background checks and other gun control measures. The argument between the two ensued in the wake of the recent Texas mass shooting that left seven dead, and 25 others injured.
Shortly after Crenshaw wrote a tweet about a woman from Houston who used a handgun to defend herself when five men attempted to rob her, AOC slammed the Congressman. Crenshaw, after recounting the incident of the Houston woman, wrote: "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."
Ocasio-Cortez swiftly caught on to Crenshaw's tweet and replied, asking why is he "lending" people his guns and accused the Texas lawmaker of giving firearms to people who have “likely abused their spouse or have a violent criminal record.”
Crenshaw retorted by asking why does she assume that his friends are domestic abusers and criminals, and added that people lend guns to another for hunting and self-defense: "This is America outside NYC."
The New York Representative tweeted back at those defending Crenshaw, writing: "The idea of 'I know the guy, there’s no way he beats his wife' as the way we keep guns out of the hands of abusers is ridiculous. Any person who has been abused, assaulted, etc knows that abusers often present as 'upstanding.'"
"Domestic abusers can be master manipulators," she added. "Plus, domestic abuse is a HUGE indicator for gun violence. That’s why 'vouching for friend' isn’t a substitute for a background check." The Congresswoman also said that "if a background check would be a problem, then you shouldn’t ‘lend’ a gun,” while arguing that her state is one of the safest regarding gun violence. "Try to keep up," she tweeted.
Texas lawmaker, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, had also engaged in a Twitter spat over the same issue with actress and activists Alyssa Milano last week on Sunday in the wake of the Odessa shooting. The Senator reportedly also had a verbal clash with Chicago's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, on the issue of gun violence.