Sen. Ted Cruz rejects calls for gun control and suggests more armed cops should be stationed at schools after devastating Texas school shooting

• On Tuesday, at least 21 people — including 19 children — were killed in a mass shooting in Texas.

• In response, Sen. Ted Cruz said more armed officers should be stationed at schools.

Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday proposed in the wake of the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that more armed officers be stationed at schools.

Speaking to the media, Cruz asserted he did not believe gun control was a solution to halting gun violence in the US.

"We know from past experience that the most effective tool for keeping kids safe is armed law enforcement on the campus," Cruz said in an interview on MSNBC.

"Inevitably, when there's a murder of this kind, you see politicians try to politicize it. You see Democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens," Cruz added. "That doesn't work."

Cruz has fought Democratic lawmakers on gun control in the past, suggesting without evidence after the King Soopers shooting in Boulder, Colorado, that gun control makes crime rates "worse."

At least 21 people — including 19 children — were killed on Tuesday at Robb Elementary School. The tragedy is the deadliest elementary school shooting since the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, in which 20 children and seven adults died.

Cruz tweeted after the mass shooting that he and his wife Heidi were "fervently lifting up in prayer the children and families in the horrific shooting in Uvalde."

Democratic lawmakers slammed Cruz's comments and called him out on his anti-gun-control stance.

"F--- you @tedcruz, you care about a fetus, but you will let our children get slaughtered," tweeted Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in response to the clip where Cruz suggested having more armed officers in schools. "Just get your ass to Cancun. You are useless."

Gallego doubled down on his tweet ten minutes later, following it up with: "Just to be clear f--- you @tedcruz, you fucking baby killer."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also slammed Cruz for his planned appearance at a National Rifle Association leadership conference this Friday.

"Aren't you slated to headline a speaking gig for the NRA in three days — in Houston, no less?" Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at Cruz. "You can do more than pray."

Other Republican lawmakers, including former President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, are also scheduled to speak at the event — which, incidentally, is banning guns at the forum due to Secret Service safety restrictions.