A 2023 speech by Texas state Rep. James Talarico, now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, is drawing renewed attention after a clip from his own YouTube channel began circulating showing him criticize lawmakers for not passing a gun bill he sponsored following the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
In the floor speech, delivered May 11, 2023, Talarico argued that failing to pass House Bill 2744 — his proposal to bar 18- to 21-year-olds from owning certain firearms — amounted to “ignoring God’s messengers.” The bill did not pass. The Texas Legislature instead approved the Uvalde Strong Act, which focused on strengthening security measures at schools.
Talarico has previously argued against stationing police officers in schools as a security measure, saying it contributes to a “culture of violence.”
A record of gun-policy positions
Talarico has voted against constitutional carry and against making Texas a Second Amendment sanctuary state during his time in the Texas House. He has said supporters of the Second Amendment often overlook the phrase “well regulated” in its text, and he has backed an assault-weapons ban, a limit on large-capacity magazines, and what he has called handgun design safety standards.
He also hired the leader of the group “Cocks Not Glocks,” known for distributing sex toys as part of gun-control awareness campaigns, to lead his gun-policy work.
At a 2019 press conference, Talarico told those who oppose gun control that they have “blood on your hands.”
During a June appearance on the Unity Over Division podcast, Talarico said the Second Amendment is “not absolute.”
“I believe in the Second Amendment just as much as I believe in the First. We have a right to bear arms to protect ourselves, our families. We have a right to own weapons for sport or for hunting. But like any freedom in the Bill of Rights, it’s not absolute,” Talarico said.
He compared it to the right to assemble, noting that protesters “need a permit.” Former President Joe Biden made similar remarks during a February 2020 CNN town hall, saying the Second Amendment is not “absolute” and later writing that “no amendment is absolute.”
In a 2020 interview with South Asian American Voter Empowerment (SAAVE TX), Talarico endorsed an assault-weapons ban and listed universal background checks, closing the “gun show loophole,” a large-capacity magazine ban, limits on large firearm purchases, and handgun design safety standards among policies he supports. He called the right to bear arms “not unlimited.”
On the same podcast, he described safe-storage laws and background checks as “common sense,” saying, “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got safe storage laws and background checks so that we’re keeping everybody safe.”
His campaign website lists universal background checks, a firearm-storage law, and raising the minimum purchase age for semiautomatic rifles with certain military-style features among his priorities.
Contrast with his opponent
Talarico faces Republican Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, who has used his office to fight gun restrictions. Paxton’s office said in April that it preserved an injunction blocking enforcement of a Biden administration ATF rule on private firearm sales. Paxton also joined 25 other state attorneys general in a 2025 amicus brief challenging District of Columbia gun restrictions and has sued the city of Dallas over limits on carrying firearms on public property.
“I will always do everything in my power to defend Texans’ gun rights from cities that would strip us of our legal rights,” Paxton said in April 2025.
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, Zach Kraft, criticized Talarico’s record, telling Breitbart News that Talarico “has been very clear he will confiscate Texans’ guns.”
Talarico has frequently invoked his Christian faith while promoting progressive policy positions, including a Green New Deal, abolishing prisons, and taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants.
