Texas Sen. John Cornyn, seeking compromise on gun violence bill, draws GOP ire at home

WASHINGTON — When Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell tapped U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to help lead a bipartisan effort to craft gun legislation, the role offered a potential reward for the Texan: passing the first meaningful law to address gun violence in decades when the vast majority of Americans are clamoring for Congress to do something in the wake of the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y.

The assignment is also fraught with peril, which Cornyn saw clearly Friday at the Texas Republican Party convention in Houston, where he was showered with boos as he defended the deal he is working to reach in Washington.

“This will be the most consequential and challenging negotiation of Cornyn’s career,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Cornyn is serving his fourth term and is said to aspire to be the Republican leader.

“The Republican base might not like these possible changes, but the larger public approves,” Rottinghaus said. “Senators are going to have to pick their poison: Would they rather face an angry primary electorate or a disgruntled general electorate?” 

The plan, announced June 12 and supported in outline form by 60 senators – 50 Democrats and 10 Republicans, just enough to prevent a filibuster – is still being worked on to meet Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s goal of a vote by the end of the week. The Senate then is scheduled to take a two-week break. 

But a frustrated Cornyn left negotiations Thursday and returned to Texas.

“This is the hardest part because at some point, you just got to make a decision. And when people don’t want to make a decision, you can’t accomplish the result. And that’s kind of where we are right now," Cornyn said.

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Lawmakers said they remained divided over how to define abusive dating partners who would be legally barred from purchasing firearms. Disagreements were also unresolved over proposals to send money to states that have “red flag" laws that let authorities temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed dangerous by courts, and to other states for their own violence prevention programs. 

“I'm not frustrated; I'm done," he added, though he said he was open to continued discussions.

Speaking to the GOP base Friday, Cornyn encountered a hostile reception as he sought to explain that his efforts would not erode Second Amendment rights.

“I will not, under any circumstance, support new restrictions for law-abiding gun owners,” Cornyn told the convention, to boos. “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.” 

The deal also expands background checks, fortifies schools and funds more mental health programs to prevent gun violence.

But Cornyn from the outset has refused to consider assault weapon limits, such as raising the minimum age to purchase an assault-style rifle from 18 to 21.  

Public letter of support

Cornyn was a logical choice to lead the negotiations: He's a former party whip, which means he has experience wrangling votes; he was successful in working with Democrats to strengthen background checks after the Sutherland Springs’ shooting in 2017; and he comes from a state that has seen several mass shootings in recent years.

“We’re all sickened by these shootings, and we’re hyperaware of the public interest,” Cornyn said Thursday on the Senate floor. “The most common refrain I hear is, ‘Do something.’”

But what?

“I’m optimistic that we can find something that protects the rights of law-abiding citizens under our Constitution, under the Second Amendment, who I believe are not a threat to public safety, and focus on people with criminal records, people with mental health challenges,” he said.

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He hopes to bring along a significant number of GOP senators, as many as 25, to show strong Republican resolve — something that might be hard to get.  

The House passed a series of gun control measures last week, including raising the minimum age to purchase an assault style rifle to 21 (the shooters in Uvalde and Buffalo were 18), but those bills are considered meaningless in the Senate, where Republicans are taking a hard line against any gun ownership limits. 

Cornyn has gotten an important boost from Texas Republican donors, gun owners and business leaders in a public letter of support from 250 people initially and now more than 600 people, according to Todd Maclin, a Dallas financier who organized the effort.  

“The letter is our effort to show support for red flag rules, universal background checks and consideration of age limits,” Maclin told the American-Statesman. 

The chief executive officers at 228 U.S. companies, including Austin jewelry designer Kendra Scott, signed a letter urging Congress to take “bold, urgent action” on gun violence.

“It’s very good political cover for Sen. Cornyn,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “Cornyn is a careful, thoughtful guy. He’s not going to be out there with something that doesn’t draw half of Republicans.”

There are 50 Republican senators. 

Chris Jacobs' cautionary tale

Republicans are keenly aware of what happened to freshman Rep. Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., who represents areas near Buffalo, site of a mass shooting last month in a grocery store. After Jacobs, who had been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, announced he would support an assault weapon ban, he was “annihilated,” he said, by his own party. Republicans turned on Jacobs, withdrawing endorsements, and he announced June 3 he would not run for reelection.  

Texas Republicans are not budging on gun ownership limits.  

“The Texas GOP believes that targeting law-abiding gun owners under the guise of ‘gun reform’ won’t solve our school safety problem and will make Americans less safe,” Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi said in a statement. “Our position isn’t changed by a letter from 250 of Texas' approximately 6 million GOP voters.” 

The shooter at a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church who killed 26 people was a former service member who had been able to purchase a firearm despite having a record of domestic assault. The U.S. Air Force failed to enter the information in a national database, and that failure was cited in a judge’s ruling in February for the Air Force to pay $230 million in damages to survivors and victims’ families.

Cornyn worked with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., with whom he is working again, on a law that strengthened the reporting requirements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

“Around here, if there's a will, there's a way, and I believe we do have the will and we will find a way,” Cornyn said Thursday.

Additional material from The Associated Press.