Politics

Rep. John Cornyn booed at Texas GOP convention amid bipartisan gun reform talks

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Sen. John Cornyn, the top Republican involved in negotiations for bipartisan gun legislation in the Senate, was heckled Friday as he delivered remarks at the Texas GOP convention.

During Cornyn’s speech, some audience members could be heard booing and chanting “no red flag.”

“Democrats pushed for an assault weapons ban, I said no,” Cornyn said. “They tried to get a new three-week mandatory waiting 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.”

“So you might ask what is on the table?” Cornyn told the crowd Friday. “More mental health resources more support for our schools and making sure that violent criminals and the mentally ill cannot buy a firearm,” he said, as boos continued. “That primarily means enforcing current law. 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, and nothing less.”

He also said, “I will not, under any circumstance, support new restrictions for law-abiding gun owners. 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 concluded this section of his speech by telling the crowd to go to his website to see his real positions, “rather than rumor and the Twitterverse.”

“Now President Biden isn’t happy that our list does not include his sprawling wish list, which tells me we must be doing something right,” he said.

Amid the backlash, Cornyn insisted there were certain lines he would not cross in the bipartisan talks. “I will not under any circumstance support new restrictions for law-abiding gun owners, 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 at the event in Houston.

Cornyn’s remarks came a day after he met for hours in a Senate basement with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to try to reach an agreement on the details of new gun legislation. The bipartisan group, which includes Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, has struggled over closing the “boyfriend loophole” involving gun rights for abusive partners.

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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