Gun rights group draws criticism from GOP rep
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw is pushing back at a gun rights group that has accused him of supporting so-called red flag laws aimed at taking guns away from people deemed by a judge to be a threat to themselves or others.
In a sharply worded email to supporters Wednesday, the Houston Republican said there was no red flag provision in the big military spending bill that passed the U.S. House on Tuesday, which he supported. He said there are gun ownership groups — namely Gun Owners of America — accusing him of voting for a red flag law when he did not and would not.
“It’s BS,” Crenshaw wrote to supporters.
“So why have so many on our own side misled you about it? Fundraising mostly,” Crenshaw said. “They want to make you outraged because then you will click on their article or donate money to their organizations.”
Crenshaw then repeated what he told supporters over the weekend in a warning that there are “grifters” within the conservative movement. Though he called out the conservative Freedom Caucus by name in that speech, he also mentioned Gun Owners of America. Crenshaw, however, was clear in the email to supporters Wednesday that he
still supports the National Rifle Association.
Gun Owners of America has been outspoken in its criticism of Crenshaw. In September, the group had an exchange on Twitter with the congressman, in which Crenshaw was asked why he was “so confused” about the red flag law provisions in the defense spending bill. Crenshaw had been adamant then that the provisions some groups were upset about would be removed before a final vote on the bill.
In 2019, the same group also went after Crenshaw for saying on Twitter that he was open to discussing red flag laws just after 23 people were gunned down by a lone shooter at an El Paso Walmart.
Back then, Crenshaw took to Twitter and told Hearst Newspapers in an interview that red flag laws should be part of the discussion
in the aftermath of the shooting.
“Are red flag laws part of the solution? We don’t know yet, but they should be part of the conversation,” he said.
Crenshaw, who is in his second term in Congress, has a history of upsetting people on both the right and the left, particularly when it comes to gun control.
His latest dispute with the gun group also comes after the 2nd Congressional District he represents was redrawn to include The Woodlands and parts of Montgomery County that will be voting in the district for the first time in 2022.
As of Wednesday, no Republican primary opponents had filed to challenge Crenshaw in next year’s election.