The Hill -- Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) is mocking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for claiming he is “pressing” for hearings on allowing U.S. troops to carry private firearms on military installations.
“You know, I was fascinated to hear that because I haven’t heard a thing about it from him. Nor has my staff heard from his staff. Where did that come from? I have not a clue,” McCain told reporters on Monday. “I’d be glad to discuss the issue and see if we need a hearing, but it came as a complete surprise to me that he had been pressing me.”
“Maybe it was through some medium that I’m not familiar with. Maybe bouncing it off the ozone layer, for all I know,” McCain joked. “There’s a lot of holes in the ozone layer, so maybe it wasn’t the ozone layer that he bounced it off of. Maybe it was through hand telegraph, maybe sign language. Who knows?”
Cruz's office issued a statement maintaining that the Texas Republican is not new to the issue.
"Senator Cruz has been discussing this issue for a long time and he looks forward to continuing to raise it in the Senate Armed Services Committee where he serves with Chairman McCain," according to the statement.
Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate, made the most recent comments on Sunday while speaking at a campaign event in New Hampshire, according to Politico.
“I am very concerned about that policy,” Cruz said. “I think it’s very important to have a public discussion about why we’re denying our soldiers the ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”
In recent years, GOP lawmakers, including fellow Texan, Rep. Louie Gohmert, have pushed for the Defense Department to ease its ban on private firearms, citing mass shootings, such as the two that have occurred at Fort Hood in Texas. They contend such tragedies could have been avoided had soldiers been allowed to be armed.
Last week Gohmert urged the House Armed Services Committee to include a provision in its version of the annual defense policy bill to lift the ban.
Blog Author's Comments - Certainly McCain will mock and disagree with Ted Cruz, Cruz is pro Tea Party and a true conservative and McCain is old GOP Establishment RINO. I agree with Ted Cruz with regard to troops carrying firearms on base. As the article states some GOP lawmakers "have pushed for the Defense Department to ease its ban on private firearms, citing mass shootings, such as the two that have occurred at Fort Hood in Texas. They contend such tragedies could have been avoided had soldiers been allowed to be armed." I have to assume John McCain disagrees with that.
The ‘old guard’ of the GOP like McCain and McConnell have to be nudged out of the way and let the young intelligent members of the Senate accomplish something. The same can be said about the House and Speaker John Boehner. The current leadership of the Republican Party of both the Senate and House are extremely weak and this weakens the Republican Party.
If the Republican Party backs someone who has no chance of winning in 2016, that will be the end of the Party. In my opinion it should be Ted Cruz and/or Scott Walker in 2016 for the GOP to regain the conservatives respect and votes. If Hillary Clinton whom I assume will still be the front runner on Election Day wins, it will be much like having another term with Obama as president.
