On March 7, Gun Owners of America (GOA) issued a press release stating that Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) supported gun control in the past–specifically a ban on guns in city and municipal parks in West Miami–yet denied it when cornered by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In fact, Rubio’s campaign alleged that Cruz was lying when he pointed out Rubio’s support for gun control.
GOA said in a statement:
When Marco Rubio was a local commissioner in Florida in 1999, he voted to ban guns from local parks.
Now, politicians make mistakes. And honest politicians “fess up” and move on.
Rubio’s problem is that, when Senator Ted Cruz called attention to Rubio’s anti-gun vote, Marco’s response was to call Ted a “liar.”
But when Rubio disavowed his 1999 anti-gun vote — falsely accusing Ted Cruz of Rubio’s own sins — he made a serious mistake. Because cause it turns out that Breitbart News had a videotape of Rubio casting the anti-gun vote which he was denying.
GOA continued to state that “just as Ted Cruz fired a top staffer in order to maintain the reality and appearance of scrupulous honestly, we do believe that Rubio owes Cruz an apology for his undeniable and conspicuous lie against him.”
The video that GOA references was published by Breitbart News on February 29. It shows Rubio as one of four West Miami city commissioners whose vote was part of a “unanimous” vote for a ban on guns in “city and municipal parks” in 1999.
On Feb. 27, Ted Cruz said Rubio voted to “ban guns from city parks” while a commissioner in West Miami City.
On Feb. 28, Texas Tribune reporter Patrick Svitek Tweeted that the Rubio campaign described Cruz’s allegation as a lie, saying, “Senator Cruz is getting increasingly desperate and giving up on trying to tell voters the truth. Marco is proud of his strong support for and record of standing up for the Second Amendment and no amount of Cruz lies can change that.”
GOA claims, “Not only was Rubio caught red-handed in a lie — about a significant and unambiguous misrepresentation — he was caught accusing others of ‘lying,’ when in fact, it was Rubio himself who was not telling the truth.”
GOA has endorsed Sen. Cruz, saying in a recent press release: “Ted Cruz is the only candidate who supports your gun rights consistently, 100% of the time. The choice is clear. Ted Cruz will dismantle ALL of Obama’s anti-gun executive orders on day one,” GOA continued. “And of all the candidates, only Ted Cruz has the legal background and personal commitment to nominate Supreme Court justices who value freedom as much as you do. I urge you to vote to protect the Second Amendment, vote for Ted Cruz.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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