Texas Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico urged restrictions on certain firearms for young adults during a Texas House floor speech, framing lawmakers’ refusal to pass his proposal as disregarding a message from God.
A clip posted to Talarico’s YouTube channel in 2023 shows the state representative making the remarks during debate over various bills proposed in response to a 2022 shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.
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In a floor speech on May 11, 2023, Talarico said that refusing to pass HB 2744, a bill he sponsored to ban 18- to 21-year-olds from owning certain guns, is “ignoring God’s messengers.”
The Texas Legislature did not pass HB 2744 but did pass the Uvalde Strong Act, which is legislation focused on strengthening security around schools.
Talarico previously criticized similar proposals and said he strongly opposed having police protect schools, arguing that doing so fuels a “culture of violence.”
Talarico has continually invoked Christianity while advocating for progressive policy positions, including supporting a Green New Deal, abolishing prisons, and providing taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immig:rants.
RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told Breitbart News, “James Talarico has been very clear he will confiscate Texans’ guns and then force them to pay for freebies for illegal immigrants and sex changes for kids. He is a truly sick individual who will destroy Texans’ way of life if given the chance.”
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Talarico has repeatedly advocated for additional restrictions on firearms.
As a Texas legislator, Talarico voted against constitutional carry on multiple occasions and against making Texas a Second Amendment sanctuary. He has also claimed that people who support the Second Amendment don’t understand the words “well regulated,” voiced support for an assault-weapons ban and a large-capacity magazine ban, and said the state “should start to think about handgun design safety standards.” Talarico also hired the leader of “Cocks Not Glocks” to lead his gun-control portfolio. The group handed out sex toys to raise awareness about banning guns.
In another clip from a 2019 press conference, Talarico said those who do not support gun control 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 t:o 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 also said, “You have a freedom to assemble, to protest, but you need a permit.” Former President Joe Biden similarly said during a February 2020 CNN town hall that the Second Amendment is not “absolute” and later wrote, “No amendment is absolute. There are limits.”
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In a 2020 interview with South Asian American Voter Empowerment, or SAAVE TX, Talarico endorsed an assault-weapons ban and argued that politicians who discuss the Second Amendment often fail to recognize that the words “well regulated” appear in its text. Talarico said the right to bear arms is “not unlimited” and listed universal background checks, closing the “gun show loophole,” an assault-weapons ban, a large-capacity magazine ban, restrictions on large firearm purchases, and handgun design safety standards among policies he was interested in pursuing.
Talarico also described safe-storage laws and background checks as “common sense” during an appearance on the Unity Over Division podcast. “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got safe storage laws and background checks so that we’re keeping everybody safe,” he said. His campaign website listed universal background checks among his priorities and called for raising the minimum purchase age for AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles. California has had universal background checks since the 1990s but led the nation in active-shooter incidents from 2020 through 2024.
Talarico’s campaign website has also listed background checks for all gun sales, a firearm-storage law, and raising the minimum purchase age for semiautomatic rifles with certain military-style features among his priorities. He is running against Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who has used his position as Texas attorney general to challenge gun-control measures. Paxton’s office announced in April that it had preserved an injunction preventing enforcement of a Biden administration ATF rule involving private firearm sales, and Paxton joined 25 other state attorneys general in a 2025 amicus brief challenging District of Columbia gun restrictions. He has also sued Dallas over restrictions 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.
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