Argentina's libertarian presidential candidate defends gun rights amid Texas shooting backlash

Just hours after a deadly school shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead in Texas, Argentina’s libertarian presidential candidate reiterated his belief that all citizens should be granted the right to arm and defend themselves.

In an interview on the television program Verdad Consecuencia (TN,) the free-market candidate expanded upon his position, warning that historically, prohibitions have never been effective, Infobae reported.

"As a follower of Gary Becker and adherent to his theory and empirical evidence, when you lower the cost of an activity and increase the benefit, that activity expands. When you prohibit the use of weapons, criminals use them anyway, no matter how much they are prohibited. The expected benefits increase and there is more crime,” he said.

Although Javier Milei was once known as an eccentric, anti-establishment libertarian economist with a penchant for theatrics, the political maverick has been making waves in Argentina after surging in opinion polls ahead of Argentina’s 2023 presidential elections, attacking the current administration’s leftist policies and promising voters total economic freedom.

In fact, a recent poll from Ricardo Rouvier & Asociados has shown that the former rock musician currently holds 37.7% of the popular vote, second only to the centrist mayor of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, who holds 44.7%.

Ningún candidato obtiene una afirmación de voto de gran significación y esto tiene que ver con la crisis entre la política y la sociedad. Dos dirig. superan el 20%: Larreta y CFK. Sin embargo, entre quienes obtienen mayor "No lo votaría" también está la Vicepres, y se le suma MM. pic.twitter.com/n51KtuiRyn

— Rouvier & Asoc (@RouvierAsoc) April 18, 2022

"In terms of political logic, I am a mistake, because what I have come to do is in fact stamp out the privileges of politicians," Milei told Reuters during an interview in Buenos Aires.

Argentines are no strangers to economic crises and Milei’s rise comes as bad economic policies have left 40% of the South America country’s residents in poverty, left to survive inflation that has neared 60%.

Yet, unlike his populist opponents, Milei has not promised handouts, but rather real economic reform. So far, his platform includes slashing public spending, tackling political corruption, tax cuts and labor market reform. The libertarian challenger has also pledged to eliminate the central bank, promote alternative currencies to the peso, and do away with trade barriers, including exiting the Mercosur trade bloc.

"Argentina has been trying out the recipe for social democracy for 100 years and, from being one of the richest countries in the world, today we are 70th," he said.