Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), the lead Republican negotiator for gun control legislation in the U.S. Senate, was roundly booed Friday when he took the stage at the state’s GOP convention in Houston.
BREAKING: Entire crowd of Texas Republicans boos John Cornyn for pushing red flag laws pic.twitter.com/fjmBnSWLh0
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) June 17, 2022
The boos reportedly grew louder when he mentioned the gun legislation that is currently being crafted in the Senate in response to the recent spate of mass shootings in the United States. Cornyn told the GOP faithful at the George R. Brown Convention Center that the legislation is about “making sure violent criminals and the mentally ill can not buy firearms.”
WATCH: Gun grabbing, RINO Senator @JohnCornyn BOOED at the Republican Party of Texas Convention.
Americans are FED up with RINOs!
They must be removed! pic.twitter.com/pOCtuBnACP
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) June 17, 2022
Cornyn insisted that he is “passionate” about the Second Amendment and would never agree to a provision that would restrict the rights of current, law-abiding gun owners.
“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 said.
“If we’re gonna change anything in this country, it should not be the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms. That’s what I made clear to my fellow senators who approached me, asking me to work on mental health and school safety legislation. I said, ‘Let’s see if we can find a better way of enforcing existing law and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill,'” Cornyn told fellow Republicans.
Senator @JohnCornyn speaking now at the @TexasGOP convention. Lots of booing, especially while he was talking about guns. @KHOU pic.twitter.com/ViO6jfz1kl
— Adam Bennett (@AdamBennettKHOU) June 17, 2022
Senate negotiators have come to a tentative deal, which includes a mix of gun control proposals and funding for mental health services.
It would incentivize states to pass red flag laws, which are designed to keep guns out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others; boost funding for mental health services, telehealth resources and more school security; permit juvenile records to be incorporated into background checks for purchasers under the age of 21; and crack down on the straw purchase and trafficking of guns.
Republican convention-goers appeared skeptical that the gun control legislation would be anything but a restriction of their 2nd Amendment rights.
Earlier in the day, scores of them reportedly threw away their badge lanyards because they had Cornyn’s name on them.
TX GOP convention: red lanyards are @JohnCornyn lanyards. Friend wrote me: "People are throwing them away in droves to get a different one."
Now Texans just need to throw him out of office. pic.twitter.com/q5uUQr5Of2
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) June 17, 2022