Cornyn booed over gun proposals during Texas GOP Convention
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.
Mr. Cornyn’s speech kicked off the afternoon session. He was jeered 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 Mr. Cornyn during his speech.
Despite the tough treatment from delegates, Mr. 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,” Mr. 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.”
Mr. Cornyn encouraged delegates “passionate about the Second Amendment‘’ to visit his website for the correct information on his gun safety policies.
Mr. 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.
Mr. 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,” Mr. 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.”