Texas teachers union, other groups protest Ted Cruz over gun stance

AUSTIN, Texas - A group representing nearly 70,000 teachers joined together with other organizations for a march to Texas Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's Austin office over his stance on guns.

In a news release, the Texas American Federation of Teachers said the march was being held to send a message to Cruz and ask him to "stop the gun violence with commonsense steps in the U.S. Senate."

The group calls Cruz's response to the mass shooting in Uvalde "abominable" and says, "The senator is beating a drum promoting the status quo (a status that has brought us six deadly mass shootings in Texas in the past five years) instead of leading in the U.S. Senate to establish simple first steps to gun access that a majority of Texans and Americans support."

"Cruz’s response to the slaughter of children—pushing for more armed school staff—is not only opposed by a vast majority of teachers, but also is an illogical idea that has not proven to be effective," the group adds.

Texas AFT President Zeph Capo was one of the marchers along with teachers/school employees, union leaders/members, and other community organizations that are fighting for sensible gun regulation.

The march began at the Texas AFL-CIO building at 1106 Lavaca Street at noon and then headed to Cruz's Austin office at the J.J. Pickle Federal Building on 300 E. 8th STreet.