AOC and GOP Rep. Crenshaw duel online over background checks

Two of the most outspoken freshmen representatives tangled on Twitter on Wednesday over universal background checks.

The tussle began when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D.N.Y., slammed Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, for claiming that universal background checks would prevent him from lending his gun to friends who needed it for self-defense.

“You are a member of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at Crenshaw. “Why are you ‘lending’ guns to people unsupervised who can’t pass a basic background check? The people you’re giving a gun to have likely abused their spouse or have a violent criminal record, & you may not know it. Why on earth would you do that?”

Crenshaw shot back, “Just so I’m clear: you think my friends are domestic abusers/criminals? Seriously that’s your argument? That they can’t pass a background check? Wrong. People lend guns to friends, esp if they don’t own a gun, for self-defense and hunting purposes. This is America outside NYC.”

Ocasio-Cortez responded, “You said w/ universal background checks, you wouldn’t be able to ‘lend’ guns to friends. If a background check would be a problem, then you shouldn’t ‘lend’ a gun,” she said, adding that New York “is one of the safest states in the country when it comes to guns.”

She then added that Crenshaw wouldn’t necessarily know if any of his friends were domestic abusers.

“This idea of ‘I know the guy, there’s no way he beats his wife’ as the way we keep guns out of the hands of abusers is ridiculous. Any person who has been abused, assaulted, etc knows that abusers often present as ‘upstanding,'” she wrote.

NSP

Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/aoc-gop-rep-crenshaw-duel-online-over-background-checks-n1049681