Republican senator faces backlash for work on gun bill after school shooting

In the aftermath of the Uvalde mass school shooting, the Texas senator John Cornyn is facing backlash from his own Republican party for being a lead negotiator on the bipartisan gun reform bill, the most significant legislation on gun control in America in decades.

At the state’s annual Republican convention recently held in Houston, Cornyn was booed and heckled – a visible sign he is losing support from those within his own party. He dismissed the taunting crowd as a “mob”.

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But after the incident, Cornyn was dubbed a “two-faced politician” by gun rights groups like the National Association for Gun Rights and Texas Gun Rights.

The tragedy in his home state left 19 children and two schoolteachers dead and has put the senior senator in a difficult political position. He is caught between some constituents demanding immediate gun law reform and members of his own party who are fervent defenders of a maximalist interpretation of the second amendment at any cost – including many national Republican figures.

But taking a stance against his party’s line on gun rights – even if the proposed reforms are mild – could cost Cornyn politically in his home state. Cornyn’s experience reveals the deeply entrenched power of the gun lobby and gun rights supporters in the Republican party, even in the wake of horrific mass shootings.