Florida Sen. Marco Rubio signed onto a letter Thursday pledging to filibuster gun control legislation.
He joins his colleagues, Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz, who penned the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid earlier this week.
“We, the undersigned, intend to oppose any legislation that would infringe on the American people’s constitutional right to bear arms, or on their ability to exercise this right without being subjected to government surveillance,” the senators wrote. “The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens’ right to self-defense. It speaks to the history’s lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history’s warning about the oppression of a government that tries.”
Rubio added his signature to the letter just hours after President Barack Obama held a press invoking the memory of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School and urging members of congress to support new gun control legislation.
In a statement, Rubio said he disagreed with Obama about the way to prevent future violence.
“We should look for ways to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill prone to misusing them, but I oppose legislation that will be used as a vehicle to impose new Second Amendment restrictions on responsible, law-abiding gun owners,” Rubio said.
“We should work to reduce tragic acts of violence by addressing violence at its source, including untreated mental illness, the lack of adequate information-sharing on mental health issues, and the breakdown of the family.”
Both Rubio and Paul are considered likely 2016 presidential contenders.