'Not the kind of country I want to live in': Adam Kinzinger bashes Ted Cruz's proposal to stop school shootings
Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" with host Dana Bash, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) dismissed the central half-measure being made by some of his Republican colleagues to halt school shootings and admitted that he's now open to some type of ban on assault weapons.
Speaking just moments after his House colleague, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) blew off the idea of any changes to the country's law gun laws, Kinzinger said his party needs to get behind some kind of reform -- and that Sen Ted Cruz's plan for "hardening" schools is a questionable solution after the Uvalde mass shooting.
After admitting that Republicans really don't want to address the problem, he stated, "If you look at this [Uvalde] shooting, you look at Buffalo, you look at Parkland and all these others, there are people taking these ARs under the age of 21, can we stop all of it? No. Can we mitigate it? Certainly and we should be doing that now."
"[Texas] Governor Greg Abbott says this shooting shows the need for more laws addressing mental health. Texas Senator Ted Cruz wants to reduce the number of doors in schools, put armed cops on school campuses and bulletproof glass. Is that enough to stop mass shootings if the U.S. doesn't also do something about guns?" host Bash asked.
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"Ultimately I think it's a hard issue because people have to make a decision to go and do a mass shooting," the GOP lawmaker replied. "But basically turning schools into military camps, if we think that's going to be the answer, even if it does work, which it won't, but even if it does, that's not the kind of country I want to live in."
"I've got a kid that's 4-months old and will be going to school someday. I don't want him to have a military ID to get into an elementary school," he continued. "These politicians that are scared to death to talk about the gun issue, they know that this is an issue, but they're scared to talk about it so they launch into this thing about mental health. We all agree that mental health is a problem. First off, I'd ask have they actually put any more money into mental health, people like Ted Cruz? Highly doubt it."
"But, secondarily, at the same time, why is an 18-year-old buying an AR?" he asked. "It's not an if or that. There's always the old saying too about the way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Typically I agree, but there are there were 150 good guys with guns at this shooting who didn't do anything until basically Border Patrol SWAT showed up. We've got to take handle of this, this is insane."
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