An activist confronted Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at a restaurant in Houston on Friday night in a fierce exchange after the speaker delivered a speech at the National Arms Association (NRA) congress, accusing violent video games, social media and other factors besides weapons for mass shootings in the United States
The activist appears to have initially entered into a civil debate with Cruz to expand past checks and reduce the number of firearms in America, according to a video shared by Indivisible Houston, a liberal political advocacy organization.
After the activist, later identified as a member of the board of Indivisible Houston, Benjamin Hernandez, became stronger as he spoke about his points, a security guard intervened and separated the man from Cruz.
“It’s harder when there are more weapons to stop gun violence,” Hernandez said from behind the guards. “This is not ignorance. We are in this country and there are weapons everywhere – why is it so difficult? ”
More guards arrive as the man shouts, “19 kids are dead!” And “It’s in your hands, Ted Cruz!”
The incident comes days after a mass shooting in Uwalde, Texas, where authorities say a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two adults at Rob Elementary School with a semi-automatic rifle similar to the AR-15.
Republicans, including Cruz, condemned the shooting, but largely stuck to talking about tackling mental health and other societal factors instead of reducing the number of weapons in the nation, which exceeds the number of people living in the country.
On Friday, Cruz appeared at an NRA rally in Houston, just 300 miles from Uwalde, and said that “what stops armed bad boys is armed good boys.”
Hundreds gathered at the NRA Congress, with many gun control activists calling for the weekend’s events, which include a speech by former President Trump, to be canceled after the shooting in Texas.
Arms control activists say they want what they describe as a reform of common sense, such as universal checks on the past, expanded red flag laws and restrictions or bans on assault rifles and semi-automatic rifles.
Another Youtube video shows that Hernandez initially approached Cruz to take a photo with the senator before including him in a debate, starting with a request to verify the past.
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– What about the checks of the past? he asks.
“You don’t want to listen,” Cruz said, before explaining that the laws proposed by Democrats would not stop the shooting.
“We can make it difficult for people to get weapons,” Hernandez said.
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