Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois on Wednesday criticized Greg Abbott for bringing up Chicago’s gun laws and crime rates as a counter to calls for tougher gun laws in the state of Texas.
In response to Abbott's statements made during a Wednesday press conference, Pritzker said the Texas Governor was spreading a "false narrative" on the issue of gun violence.
Don’t feed into the false narrative about Chicago and Illinois – it’s an excuse that politicians like you hide behind to stop the federal legislation we need to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) May 25, 2022
He cited an October 2017 report from NBC that said nearly 60 percent of Chicago’s guns came from out-of-state, with "more than 20 percent" of those coming from Indiana.
"You are lying about Chicago and what actually perpetuates gun violence. The majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws," Pritzker added in a follow-up.
Notably, Chicago’s Mayor Lori Lightfoot previously pleaded for federal government help in stopping the city’s crime.
When asked about the topic of gun control during a press conference on Wednesday, Abbott said the laws passed in 2019’s Texas legislative sessions were already some of the most "profound" seen "in any state and addressing school shootings."
"I know that people like to try to oversimplify this. Let's talk about some real facts. And that is: there are 'real gun laws' in Chicago. There are 'real gun laws' in New York. There are 'real gun laws' in California. I hate to say this, but there are more people who were shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas. And we need to realize that maybe if we just implement tougher gun laws, it's gonna solve it: Chicago and LA and New York disprove that thesis."
At other points in the conference, Governor Abbott labeled the shooter as an evil person who had no known other criminal or mental health history otherwise known to authorities before the attack.
At one point, Texas Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke interrupted the Wednesday press conference to heckle Abbott and the others on stage. Beto demanded to know what the state was going to do since the time to "stop the next shooting is right now, and you're doing nothing."
O’Rourke was escorted from the area by police, and a CBS correspondent’s impression was that the interruption felt staged by Beto’s campaign team.
The official White House response from President Biden on Tuesday night turned aim at the "gun lobby" and demanded "common sense gun laws" be enacted in the wake of the Texas shooting.
Tuesday's mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvale, Texas saw the massacre of 19 children and two teachers. It was later revealed all of the deceased victims were in the same classroom.
While there was a school resource officer within the vicinity of Tuesday’s shooting, reports claim that it was a Border Patrol tactical unit agent who rushed in and fatally shot the gunman.
The background of Salvador Ramos revealed a troubled home life, and someone who was bullied by classmates, dropped out of school, and had problems with parents and grandparents at home.
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