Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot shared a heated exchange on Twitter over gun violence, in which Lightfoot accused Cruz of being a "coward Republican" and Cruz criticized the city's criminal policies as ineffective.

The spat began when Cruz shared a story from Breitbart about the Labor Day weekend gun violence in Chicago, tweeting that disarming "law-abiding citizens" was not the answer, but rather the answer is incarcerating violent criminals before they have the opportunity to commit more crimes.



Gun control doesn’t work. Look at Chicago. Disarming law-abiding citizens isn’t the answer. Stopping violent criminals—prosecuting & getting them off the street—BEFORE they commit more violent crimes is the most effective way to reduce murder rates. Let’s protect our citizens. https://t.co/znHO31gDH2 — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 2, 2019

Lightfoot responded that Cruz should "keep our name out of your mouth" and blamed neighboring states with less strict gun policies as the source of gun violence in the city. According to Time , Chicago was responsible for nearly half of the increase in homicides in the United States in 2016.

"60% of illegal firearms recovered in Chicago come from outside IL—mostly from states dominated by coward Republicans like you who refuse to enact commonsense gun legislation. Keep our name out of your mouth," Lightfoot tweeted. "When @tedcruz and the @GOP dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear."

[ Also read: Chicago mayor calls Ivanka Trump tweets 'dangerous']



When @tedcruz and the @gop dismiss common sense gun policies, they disrespect victims and their families, who deserve to live without pain and fear. — Lori Lightfoot (@LightfootForChi) September 3, 2019



Cruz responded with a multi-tweet thread criticizing Lightfoot for blaming neighboring states for the violence in a city traditionally managed by Democratic leadership. He asked why other large cities with Republican leadership don't have murder rates coming even close to Chicago's.

"Mayor, your anger is misplaced. Virtually every year, Chicago has the most murders of any city in America. In 2017, the top five were: Chicago (650 murders), Baltimore (343), Philadelphia (317), New York (290), and Los Angeles (286)," Cruz tweeted. "All five of those cities have had Democratic mayors for decades and aggressive gun control policies—none seems to be working. Your explanation (“blame Indiana!”) doesn’t hold water. There are 27 states with GOP governors. Chicago is not alone in having neighboring red states. But Chicago’s murder totals are often DOUBLE the next closest city. So how do you explain the big cities in red states, without aggressive gun control laws, where murder rates are MUCH lower than Chicago?"



2/x All five of those cities have had Democratic mayors for decades and aggressive gun control policies—none seems to be working. Your explanation (“blame Indiana!”) doesn’t hold water. There are 27 states with GOP governors. Chicago is not alone in having neighboring red states. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019

3/x But Chicago’s murder totals are often DOUBLE the next closest city. So how do you explain the big cities in red states, without aggressive gun control laws, where murder rates are MUCH lower than Chicago? — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019



Cruz criticized Chicago's hard anti-gun stance while accusing the city of not handling violent criminals properly, allowing them to be free to commit other violent crimes.

"Maybe, rather than getting angry when others point out the tragically high murder rate in Chicago, you put aside the partisan talking points & the failed gun-control policies Chicago has pursued for decades," Cruz tweeted. "Instead, lock up the violent criminals who are committing murder. PREVENT felons & fugitives from illegally buying firearms, and ALLOW law-abiding citizens (who are right now obeying Chicago’s prohibition) to exercise their constitutional right to protect their own lives and their families."



5/x ...PREVENT felons & fugitives from illegally buying firearms, and ALLOW law-abiding citizens (who are right now obeying Chicago’s prohibition) to exercise their constitutional right to protect their own lives and their families. — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 3, 2019



Lightfoot has yet to respond to Cruz's questions and criticism but last week announced a new initiative that would track gun offenders from the time they were arrested to when they were eventually released from whatever sentence they may receive so the city could "identify trends, strengths and address any weaknesses within the criminal justice system."