Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, responded to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s suggestion that banks stop working with gun makers by telling ‘the Godfather’ he’s a bully and inviting the companies involved in the gun industry to run their businesses out of Texas.

“[Y]our city’s longstanding policies stripping citizens of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms have, in turn, produced some of the very highest crime and murder rates in the nation,” Cruz wrote to Emanuel, whom he suggested is pushing “a partisan agenda” at the expense of Chicagoans.

“Regardless, directing your attack at legitimate firearms manufacturers undermines the Second Amendment rights of Texans, Cruz added. “In the future, I would ask that you keep your efforts to diminish the Bill of Rights north of the Red River.”

Emanuel reportedly wrote TD Bank and Bank of America to request that they revoke the lines of credit they offer to Sturm, Ruger, and Co., and Smith & Wesson, respectively, unless those weapons manufacturers back gun control measures.

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“Collectively we can send a clear and unambiguous message to the entire gun industry that investors will no longer financially support companies that support gun violence,” Emanuel wrote.

The new Texas senator said that Emanuel’s letter was “a manifestation of an unabashed agenda to deprive law-abiding citizens of our right to keep and bear arms.”

Cruz’s note to Emanuel appeared in the same letter as a note of encouragement to the companies the mayor mentioned.

“Both of your companies do considerable business in the City of Chicago, and you may be understandably concerned that there are risks to refusing to comply with the demands of a politician who has earned the nickname, ‘The Godfather,’” Cruz wrote to the banks. “In light of the reception you have received in the Windy City, please know that Texas would certainly welcome more of your business and the jobs you create . . . If I can be of assistance in that regard, please do not hesitate to call.”

He had the same message for the gun manufacturers. “Should Mayor Emanuel’s bullying campaign prove successful, I am confident that there are numerous financial institutions in Texas that would be eager to earn your business,” Cruz said.