Beto O'Rourke talks gun control at Houston campaign events

U.S. Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's seat in the next election, talks to Arvind Sriraman at a rally at No Label Brewery Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Katy. Sriraman, a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, is from India and could become a U.S. citizen in July, 2018. Sriraman said he is determined to vote for O'Rourke because he lost his wife in a gun violence five years ago and O'Rourke supports gun sense. ( Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle ) less U.S. Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's seat in the next election, talks to Arvind Sriraman at a rally at No Label Brewery Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, in Katy. Sriraman, a member ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Beto O'Rourke talks gun control at Houston campaign events 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

During a pair campaign stops in Houston on Thursday, Democrat Beto O'Rourke jumped right into the middle of the gun regulation debate, saying he fully backs a call for universal background checks and a proposal to ban the sale of assault-style weapons.

"There is no reason that weapons of war should be sold to people in this country," O'Rourke told a rousing round of applause from supporters at a town hall meeting at the University of Houston on Thursday.

Hours earlier, he had a similar message at another town hall in the heart of Houston's East End. O'Rourke told that crowd that he is a co-sponsor on a bill that would ban the sale of weapons like the AR-15, which 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz used int the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., in February. An AR-15 was also used in 2012 in the mass killings of 27 -- mostly children -- at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

O'Rourke said those weapons are for one purpose -- killing other humans as efficiently as possible.

But O'Rourke, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for re-election, was also careful to stress he is not for taking guns away from anyone and believes the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution needs to be defended. He told both audiences that his uncle, who was a sheriff's deputy, taught him how to shoot and his father instilled lessons about proper gun ownership.

"We have this great proud honorable heritage and proud tradition of gun ownership in Texas," O'Rourke said.

O'Rourke's statements came just a few days after Cruz was in Stafford telling his supporters that the AR-15 was the weapon used in Sutherland Springs by the plumber, Stephen Willeford, who confronted the church shooter and stopped an even bigger massacre that day. His mention of the AR-15 brought a round of applause from the crowd at the Redneck Country Club.

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Cruz has fought past attempts to pass assault weapon ban legislation in the U.S. Senate. After the Parkland killings, he warned liberals would try to use the tragedy in another attempt to attack the 2nd Amendment.

"It's tiresome," he said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February. "Every time you see a horrific crime, people in the media and Democratic politicians immediately try to leap on it to advance their agenda. And their agenda is stripping the rights away from law-abiding citizens."

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace.