September 5th 2019

By Oliver Willis

American Independent

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called out Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) on Wednesday for saying he would lend a gun to a friend who cannot pass a background check.

Crenshaw began the back and forth by lamenting on Tuesday evening, “With universal background checks, I wouldn’t be able to let my friends borrow my handgun when they travel alone.”

The post came as news broke that the mass shooter in Odessa, Texas, who killed 7 people and injured 23 in a shooting spree over the weekend, purchased his guns in a private sale to avoid a background check that he would not pass.

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“Why are you ‘lending’ guns to people unsupervised who can’t pass a basic background check?” Ocasio-Cortez asked Crenshaw after he made his statement. “The people you’re giving a gun to have likely abused their spouse or have a violent criminal record, & you may not know it.”

“You think my friends are domestic abusers/criminals? Seriously that’s your argument? That they can’t pass a background check?” Crenshaw responded, seemingly failing to understand the implications of his original tweet.

Ocasio-Cortez noted that the initial scenario Crenshaw dreamed up was one in which a background check would impede him lending his friend a gun: “You said w/ universal background checks, you wouldn’t be able to ‘lend’ guns to friends. If a background check would be a problem, then you shouldn’t ‘lend’ a gun.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to allow a vote on H.R. 8, the background check bill passed by Democrats in the House. If that measure was enacted, private sales would be subject to checks, helping to prevent incidents like the Odessa shooting.

Crenshaw was one of the Republicans who voted against the bill and its attempts to close the deadly loophole.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez voted to keep citizens safe.

Now, just a few months after that vote, Crenshaw is advocating a path to circumvent the existing background check system while simultaneously endangering the public.

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