“Democrats pushed for a ban on assault weapons, I said no,” Cornyn said. “They tried to get a new mandatory three-week waiting period for all gun purchases, I said no. Universal background checks, magazine bans, license requirements, the list goes on and on, and “And I said no, no, 1,000 times. No.”
Cornyn left Washington on Thursday without reaching an agreement to turn an agreement reached over the weekend into a real piece of legislation. Lawmakers on both sides have been under pressure to act on gun safety legislation following more mass shootings, but it is unclear whether any package could overcome an obstruction in the Senate.
“So you may be wondering what’s on the table?” Cornyn told the crowd Friday. “More mental health resources, more support for our schools and making sure that violent offenders and the mentally ill can’t buy a gun,” he said, as the boos continued. “It mainly means enforcing the 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, no more and no less.”
He also said: “I will not support under any circumstances any new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. This will always be my red line. And despite what some of you may have heard, the framework in which we are working is consistent with this red line “.
Cornyn concluded this section of her speech by telling the crowd to go to her website to see their actual positions, “instead of the rumors and the Twitterverse.”
“Now President Biden is not happy that our list does not include his extensive wish list, which tells me we must be doing something right,” he said.
Cornyn told reporters earlier this week that the two main points of contention in the framework are the so-called boyfriend gap, which deals with whether unmarried couples could have guns if they were found guilty of violence against a dating partner, and the distribution of funds for alternative crisis intervention programs, with Democrats wanting to use those funds to encourage states to pass red-flag laws. Cornyn also warned that if negotiations drag on, the discussion could collapse without anything happening.
“Indecision and delay jeopardize the likelihood of a bill because you can’t write what’s undecided and without a bill there’s nothing to vote on,” Cornyn tweeted Thursday.