Photo of gun seemingly pointed at Ted Cruz brings conservative outcry

Texan Ted Cruz went to Iowa over the weekend simply to reach out to potential voters.

At one stop, the Republican senator and presidential candidate was photographed talking about gun control to a small group at a “Celebrate the 2nd Amendment” event.

But the photos captured that day by the Associated Press — which show what appears to be a gun aimed at Cruz’s head — have created a firestorm and an outcry among some conservatives.

“Don’t hold your breath waiting for the AP to put out a photo of Hillary Clinton with a gun pointing at her head,” John Hinderaker, at the conservative PowerLine Blog, told reporters.

The AP’s Charlie Neibergall took the photos of Cruz. Behind the candidate was a poster plastered on the wall that showed an image of a large gun that seemed to be pointed at Cruz.

AP officials said that more than a dozen pictures were taken of Cruz at the event and that five of those published showed images of guns on the wall behind him, seemingly pointed at his head, at the shooting range.

“The images were not intended to portray Sen. Cruz in an negative light,” AP officials said.

But conservative analysts criticized the photo, and some said the photographer could have shifted his position so that the gun wasn’t in the shot.

“Imagine the outcry were [Cruz] a Democrat,” said an article on The Breitbart website.

This story was originally published June 22, 2015 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Photo of gun seemingly pointed at Ted Cruz brings conservative outcry."