Sen. Cruz Addresses Hearing Exploring Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence While Protecting 2nd Amendment

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), today defended Americans' right to bear arms in a subcommittee hearing that explored proposals to reduce gun violence while protecting the Second Amendment. One of the witnesses to testify was former Texas Rep. Suzanna Hupp, a victim of the 1991 Luby's mass shooting in Killeen, Texas. Sen. Cruz is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights.

Below are excerpts of Sen. Cruz's opening remarks to the subcommittee and video clips of his and Suzanna Hupp's comments:

"The divide on this issue is fairly straightforward: the focus of law enforcement should be on criminals and we should be unstinting in protecting communities… It is often lost in the debate over guns that the Second Amendment is part of our Constitution… it is indeed, as Justice Joseph Story put it, "the palladium of the liberties of a republic,' a fundamental protection of every American, and in my view, stripping the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens does nothing to prevent criminals from carrying out violent crime."

"The overwhelming weight of the empirical evidence demonstrates that when the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, to protect their homes, to protect their families are taken away, that violent crime increases, that citizens are left defenseless are more vulnerable to violent criminals."

"Today we are discussing what are the limits on that right because the Supreme Court made absolutely clear that the Second Amendment is a constitutional right of every American. And I would point out that constitutional rights are designed to be protected not just when they're popular, but especially when passions are high among those seeking to restrict and limit those rights. And so I look forward to this hearing underscoring the vital protections of the Second Amendment to every American."

To view Sen. Cruz's opening comments, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZB0T_TR9Ww

To view Suzanna Hupp's testimony, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKMAbC1-d2I

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