The National Association for Gun Rights nonprofit demanded an apology for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) after he co-sponsored a gun control measure in the wake of several mass shootings.
The group said it is “denouncing” Cornyn and is “demanding that he apologize after he called Texas GOP activists a ’mob' in the wake of his support for federal gun control legislation.”
“During the Texas GOP convention this past weekend, Senator Cornyn was met with loud boos and chants of ‘No Red Flag’ when he got on stage to deliver a speech,” the group wrote in an email. “Gun rights activists were peacefully voicing their displeasure with Sen. Cornyn and the gun control legislation he’s been fighting to pass in the U.S. Senate.”
Over the past weekend, video footage showed Cornyn being booed by a large crowd of people attending the Texas Republican Party convention. As he spoke for about 20 minutes, Cornyn was booed frequently, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Many shouted, “No gun control.” Others yelled, “Go back home,” according to multiple videos.
“I’m as passionate as you are about something called the United States Constitution,” Cornyn remarked during the speech, according to the Chronicle.
Cornyn is one of the chief Republican proponents of a gun control bill backed by most Democrats that would establish funding for controversial red flag laws, a ban on straw purchases of firearms, mental health initiatives, and other provisions. Nine other Republicans back the measure, which was also co-sponsored by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
But many Republicans have criticized the provision, saying that red flag laws violate the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process provision. More than a dozen mostly Democrat-run states have passed such laws in recent years.
Meanwhile, according to senators’ comments to reporters last week, it’s not clear if the bill will actually materialize. Cornyn indicated that negotiations between Republicans and Democrats have stalled.
“I don’t know what they have in mind, but I’m through talking,” Cornyn said on Thursday. “We’re about run out of our rope here, and we got to make some final decisions today if we’re going to be able to get this on the floor next week,” the senator added.
And Murphy said that “it comes with political risk to both sides. But we’re close enough that we should be able to get there.”
The Epoch Times has contacted Cornyn’s office for comment on National Association for Gun Rights’ demand for an apology.
