HOUSTON — Republican Sen. John Cornyn on Friday was roundly booed at the Texas GOP Convention by delegates angry about his key role in a bipartisan Senate compromise on gun safety.
Cornyn’s speech kicked off the afternoon session. He was jeered from the start of his remarks and intermittently until he ended his appearance with a call for unity.
“No red flags” and “Don’t take our guns” were some of the phrases hurled at Cornyn during his speech.
Despite the tough treatment from delegates, Cornyn sought to set the record straight on his views on the Second Amendment.
“I will not, under any circumstances, support new restrictions for law-abiding gun owners,” Cornyn said. “That will always be my red line. And despite what some of you may have heard, the framework that we are working on is consistent with that red line.”
Cornyn said he’s consistently pushed back against gun control proposals.
“We fought and kept President Biden’s gun grabbing wish list off the table,” Cornyn said.” Democrats push for an assault weapons ban. I said ‘no.’ They tried to get a new three-week mandatory wait period for all gun purchases. I said ‘no.’ Universal background checks, magazine bans, licensing requirements. The list goes on and on and on. And I said ‘no, no, 1,000 times no.’”
Cornyn then encouraged delegates "passionate about the Second Amendment‘’ to visit his website for the correct information on his gun safety policies.
“What is on the table? More mental health resources, securing our schools and making sure that violent criminals and the mentally ill cannot buy a firearm,” Cornyn said. “That primarily means enforcing the laws we already have. That’s what I’ve heard from many of you here today and this week and that’s what we’re working on. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Cornyn, the state’s senior senator and a lead GOP bargainer for the bipartisan proposal, expressed frustration Thursday that the process had not reached a point that put the proposal up for a vote. He left Washington and returned to Texas.
According to The Associated Press, lawmakers said they remained divided over how to define abusive dating partners who would be legally barred from purchasing firearms. Disagreements were also unresolved over proposals to send money to states that have “red flag” laws that let authorities temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed dangerous by courts, and to other states for their own violence prevention programs.
“This is the hardest part because at some point, you just got to make a decision. And when people don’t want to make a decision, you can’t accomplish the result. And that’s kind of where we are right now,” Cornyn said before heading to the Texas GOP convention.
During his convention speech, Cornyn said his heart ached over the Uvalde massacre, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school.
“No parent should ever have to fear their safety and their child. And no child should be afraid to go to school,” Cornyn said. “If there’s any lesson we can learn from the recent shooting, it’s that America must have a reckoning with our broken mental health system.”
“America is ready to turn the page on inflation, on the war on American energy and on the weakness and the wokeness,” Cornyn said. “Texas Republicans, as always, are ready to lead the way.”
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