WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz is ripping Bank of America and Citigroup for limiting their business with the gun industry, accusing the banks of pursuing policies "designed to placate liberal activists, earn favor with Democratic officeholders and garner ... media praise."

The Republican on Friday wrote to the lenders' chief executives that their gun efforts are "not welcome in Texas."

"The citizens of Texas — including your millions of customers in Texas — appear to have a stronger commitment to protecting our constitutional liberties than do your boardrooms," wrote Cruz, who will speak Friday at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Dallas.

The banks, both with large operations in Texas, are among the largest financial institutions in the U.S. Their recent decisions to curtail ties to the firearms market have split the GOP in Texas and beyond over how to reconcile gun rights with free-market principles.

Some Texas Republicans have pushed a hard line — seeking, for example, to cancel government contracts with the banks. Others, while disapproving of the banks' actions, have said it would be a bad idea for the government to meddle with a private entity's business choices.

Cruz so far appears to be stopping short of trying to punish the banks.

But he did make clear that the banks have benefited from the government providing them billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts in recent years. That's an argument that some Republicans have made to justify government intervention.

"Your banks exist today only because of the (perhaps foolish) largess of the taxpayers whose constitutional rights you are now trying to restrict," Cruz wrote.

The big banks created a stir earlier this year by distancing themselves from the firearms market in the wake of multiple deadly mass shootings.

Citigroup's consumer division, Citibank, said in March that it would require retail clients to put certain restrictions on gun sales. A top Bank of America executive followed in April by pledging that the bank would not "underwrite or finance military-style firearms."

The banks, which declined to comment on Friday, have stood by their decisions.

A Citigroup spokesman told Politico last month that its policy is "designed to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands." Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan defended his company's approach last month at its annual shareholder meeting.

That's done little to allay some conservatives, including some Texans.

Reps. Louie Gohmert of Tyler and Lamar Smith of San Antonio last month joined several House colleagues in asking the General Services Administration to cancel a $700 billion contract with Citigroup over what they called a "flagrant attempt to undermine our fundamental rights."

"Anytime a corporate giant decides it's time to participate in eroding or taking away constitutional rights, that's a real problem," Gohmert said. "We don't have to reward companies with our business that are trying to take away Second Amendment rights."

1 / 6Exhibitors set up for the opening of the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 3, 2018, in Dallas.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer) 2 / 6Workers at the Cimarron Firearms set up a display case with old west reproduction revolvers as exhibitors get set up for the opening of the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Thursday, May 3, 2018, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer) 3 / 6Examiner Jim Fleming uses a wooden dowel to inspect firearms and ensure all are without a firing pin at the Springfield Armory booth during set for the opening of the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on Thursday, May 3, 2018, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer) 4 / 6Attendees line up to enter the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 5 / 6An attendee looks at a line to enter the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 4, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 6 / 6People walk by NRA convention signage in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Thursday, May 3, 2018. The convention is scheduled to go through Sunday. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)(Sue Ogrocki / AP)

But other Republicans, including some in Texas, have resisted the idea that the government should punish the banks.

"I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment," said Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Republican who leads the House Financial Services Committee. "But to have the government punish companies or banks for their corporate policies strikes me as a uniquely bad idea."

Sen. John Cornyn said that he "would not necessarily favor the government punishing anybody," suggesting instead that "consumers have a right to decide where they want to bank."

"I don't like what the banks are doing because they ought to be basing their decisions on economics, not on social policy," said Cornyn, who is also slated to speak Friday at the NRA convention. "But they have a right to do it."

Cruz, in his letter, didn't say whether the government should punish the banks. But he asked the banks' CEOs several questions, including whether they consulted with government officials before making their decisions and whether their action was based on consumer demands.

He said the banks' policies "pose a serious barrier to the constitutional rights of millions of Americans."

"The Bill of Rights should not be subject to corporate pressure or financial coercion," Cruz wrote.