COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — When it comes to its censure of U.S. Senator John Cornyn, the chair of the Collin County Republican Party says it’s nothing personal.
“It’s not one specific thing. But the recent issue is the red flag laws that he was working on,” Abraham George said on Inside Texas Politics. “It is an infringement on our rights. And Washington politicians have been doing this for a long time.”
The Collin County Republican Party approved the censure last week and it also calls for Senator Cornyn’s immediate resignation.
The Republican lawmaker co-authored bipartisan gun legislation which President Biden signed into law in late June. It is considered the most significant gun reform bill in decades.
Among other things, it includes significant funding for states to implement crisis intervention programs, including “red flag” programs, which can temporarily prevent folks from accessing guns through a court order. Texas does not currently have red flag laws.
The gun legislation also increases funding for school security and mental health programs and closed a loophole in domestic violence law, known as the “boyfriend loophole.”
Some other county Republican parties in Texas have also censured Senator Cornyn because of his work on the gun bill. But George tells us it is not a concerted effort.
“We know there are other counties who have done this. We also know there are other counties working on it. But we really did not coordinate with anyone. It was just us,” he said.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released last month, 51% of registered Texas voters said they thought stricter gun laws would help to decrease the number of mass shootings. In addition, 58% supported stricter gun laws in the United States. And 73% support raising the legal minimum age to buy any gun to 21 years old nationwide.
The same Quinnipiac poll also showed that 47% of Texas voters want a nationwide ban on assault weapons.