Washington (CNN) Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo on Wednesday stood by his criticism of Senate Republicans for not reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act and taking action against gun violence, saying "death is not political."

"To the people who say this is political -- this is not political. Death is not political -- you see, death is final," Acevedo told CNN during an interview in Houston. "So the question is simple: Do you, Senator (Ted) Cruz support closing the boyfriend loophole that's in that (Violence Against Women Act) law, yes or no? Because if you look at the response from the elected officials in the Senate, not one of them addressed the loophole. You know why? Because you're on the wrong side of history. That's why."

While federal law bars spouses, ex-spouses, live-in partners and people who have children together from possessing a firearm if they have a domestic violence conviction, it does not apply similar constraints to dating partners in what's known as the "boyfriend loophole."

An outspoken advocate on the issue of domestic violence, Acevedo on Monday slammed Texas Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, for not pushing to close the loophole, as the Houston Police Department mourned the death of Sgt. Chris Brewster. He was shot and killed while responding to a call from a woman who said her boyfriend was armed and assaulting her.

"I don't want to hear about how much they support law enforcement," the police chief said on Monday. "I don't want to hear about how much they care about lives and the sanctity of lives yet, we all know in law enforcement that one of the biggest reasons that the Senate and Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and others are not getting into a room and having a conference committee with the House and getting the Violence Against Women's Act (passed) is because the NRA doesn't like the fact that we want to take firearms out of the hands of boyfriends that abuse their girlfriends. And who killed our sergeant? A boyfriend abusing his girlfriend. So you're either here for women and children and our daughters and our sisters and our aunts, or you're here for the (National Rifle Association)."

Read More