Saying that U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has “betrayed the trust” of Lone Star State gun owners, a Texas gun rights group is asking President Donald Trump not to endorse the longtime senator for re-election.
The organization Texas Gun Rights (TGR) last week penned a letter to President Trump in which it aired its grievances over what it believes to be Sen. Cornyn’s lack of support for the Second Amendment.
“Dear President Trump, We, the members and supporters of Texas Gun Rights, write to you as dedicated defenders of the Second Amendment,” the letter stated. “We urge you in the strongest terms not to endorse Senator John Cornyn in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate.”
The organization further stated that Sen. Cornyn has repeatedly betrayed the trust of gun owners in Texas and across the country.
“His authorship of the ‘Fix NICS’ gun control deal in 2017 flooded the federal ‘prohibited persons’ list with millions of Americans—including veterans—without due process,” the letter stated. “Worse, he was the lead Republican architect of the Biden-Cornyn Gun Control Bill—the so-called Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA)—which Joe Biden himself celebrated as the most significant gun control legislation in 30 years.”
Former President Joe Biden later used the BSCA as cover to institute a number of executive actions limiting gun rights.
“The Cornyn-led BSCA has already been used to justify backdoor federal gun regulations, Red Flag-style gun confiscation grants, and an expanded National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that digs into sealed juvenile and mental health records,” the TGR letter continued. “And now Sen. Cornyn has the audacity to act surprised at how the Biden Administration has abused his gun control framework. We warned him. He did it anyway. Now millions of Americans are paying the price.”
As the letter pointed out, Sen. Cornyn is currently trailing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in head-to-head polling of prospective voters. Recently, President Trump said he wasn’t prepared to make an endorsement in the race yet. However, two Texas Republican House members—Rep. Lance Gooden and Rep. Troy Nehls—recently announced they were backing Paxton.
“The grassroots is speaking,” the letter stated. “They are fed up with career politicians who fold on our rights and say one thing in Texas but vote the opposite in Washington.”
Ultimately, Texas Gun Rights wants President Trump to build on his already strong support for the Second Amendment by not endorsing Cornyn in the race.
“You’ve made serious inroads with the gun rights community in only a few short months, but endorsing John Cornyn could undermine that progress, as Cornyn is the architect of many gun control mishaps,” the letter concluded. “If you cannot endorse a pro-gun candidate in this race, we ask that you remain neutral and allow the voters of Texas to choose for themselves. Let the contrast between a career compromiser and a constitutional warrior be clear.”
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