Lawmaker: No Syrian refugees to Texas because they could buy guns

This undated image made available in the Islamic State's English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud. . Abaaoud the Belgian jihadi suspected of masterminding deadly attacks in Paris was killed in a police raid on a suburban apartment building, the city prosecutor's office announced Thursday Nov. 1, 2015. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins' office said 27-year-old Abdelhamid Abaaoud was identified based on skin samples. His body was found in the apartment building targeted in the chaotic and bloody raid in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis on Wednesday. (Militant photo via AP) less This undated image made available in the Islamic State's English-language magazine Dabiq, shows Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud. . Abaaoud the Belgian jihadi suspected of masterminding deadly attacks in Paris was ... more Photo: Uncredited, AP Photo: Uncredited, AP Image 1 of / 148 Caption Close Lawmaker: No Syrian refugees to Texas because they could buy guns 1 / 148 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- A state lawmaker from suburban Austin has floated a new reason why Syrian refugees should not be resettled to the Lone Star States: Texas' accessible gun-purchase laws.

In a two-page letter to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, Rep. Tony Dale, R-Cedar Park, said the resettlement program should be stopped because "there is no doubt" that the radical Islamic terrorists that carried out last Friday's Paris massacre will strike on U.S. soil.

And if they are resettled in Texas, they will be given a Texas drivers license, which will allow them to get jobs at federal facilities and get access to American airports.

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"Can you imagine a scenario where a refugee is admitted to the United States, is provided federal cash payments and other assistance, obtains a drivers license and purchases a weapon and executes an attack?" Dale wrote.

Dale closed: "Either we act in a way that protects Americans from Daesch (ISIS) or their desire to attack us will be made a reality. As they say in their own words, 'American blood is best and we will taste it soon'."

On Monday. Gov. Greg Abbott joined governors from more than two dozen other states -- most of them Republicans -- in moving to block Syrian refugees from coming to their states, even though officials and legal experts say states have no such right to do that.

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In his letter, Dale acknowledges that "is a federal decision" and asks Cornyn to stop the plans.

Texas long has been a bastion of support for Second Amendment rights, and the Legislature in recent years has pushed back attempts to further restrict gun purchases. Last session, it approved open carry and campus carry.

Dale, a conservative Republican, is a member of the Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee.