Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is accusing President Obama of refusing to “confront” the enemy and Cruz is criticizing Obama and others for advocating new gun control measures after the mass shooting this week in California.
“To see a terror attack from radical Islamic terrorists and immediately to leap to: ‘The answer should be stripping away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,’ that is misunderstanding the problem,” Cruz said this afternoon.
Cruz visited a gun shop in suburban Des Moines where he spoke to more than 150 people packed into a conference room. During a question-and-answer session with reporters near the store’s cash register, Cruz accused those who criticized the timing of his gun shop visit of trying to “politicize” the California shootings.
“Listen, the way you stop the bad guys is not taking away the guns from law-abiding citizens,” Cruz said in answer to a question about the criticism. “The way you stop the bad guys is having a free and armed citizenry that can protect ourselves.”
Cruz told reporters all indications are the California attack is “directly connected” to ISIS.
“This attack following in the wake of the Paris attack underscores the need for a strong commander in chief who will keep this nation safe,” Cruz told reporters, “who will confront the menace, the evil of radial Islamic terrorism and who will do whatever is necessary, whatever it takes.”
Cruz also said it makes “no sense whatsoever” that reporters have been allowed into the San Bernadino home where the California shooters rented. An FBI spokesman said the law enforcement search of the home had been completed and the home turned back over to the landlord, who invited reporters in.