TX-Sen: The gun lobby has lost its grip on Texas
GIFFORDS poll: Texas Republicans—including Paxton voters—SUPPORT Cornyn’s bipartisan gun bill. His detractors oppose him for other reasons.
WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn, securing the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Last week, GIFFORDS released a poll of the Texas Republican Senate runoff electorate showing Republican voters — including those who supported the candidacy of Paxton — not only reject the gun lobby’s arguments against Cornyn’s work on the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), but also overwhelmingly support its policies.
“Radical gun groups were hoping to use a Cornyn defeat as a warning to deter other Republicans from working across the aisle to combat gun violence – but they’ve become so extreme and ineffective that even Texas MAGA Republicans tuned them out,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “Last week, the gun lobby quietly stood by as their top ally, Thomas Massie, lost his primary. This week, Cornyn’s role in passing BCSA was an afterthought among Texas voters as they cast their votes for the Republican nominee. And combined, these elections show us how the gun lobby has lost its grip on the electorate.”
“Ken Paxton is as extreme as the gun lobby. He wants to repeal laws to make it easier for criminals and cartels to get guns, putting Texas families at risk,” said GIFFORDS Texas Director Roger Garza. “Texas voters are fed up. They’re tired of out-of-touch politicians willing to put their constituents’ lives at risk just to boost profits for their gun industry CEO donors.”
BACKGROUND:
The gun lobby promised to use Cornyn’s role in leading the BCSA against him in this primary.
However, polling showed that these attacks on Cornyn’s leadership of the BSCA fell flat, with Republican voters ranking these attacks as the least important issue when deciding their vote.
Among the messages in seven recent anti-Cornyn ads GIFFORDS tested, Republican runoff voters rated attacks on Cornyn’s gun rights record as the least important in deciding their vote. This was even the case among voters who supported Paxton’s challenge against Cornyn. Texas Republican runoff voters — including those voting for Paxton — overwhelmingly support Bipartisan Safer Community Act policies:
- Nine in 10 GOP respondents favor including juvenile criminal history and mental health records in background checks for gun purchasers under age 21.
- 86% support making gun trafficking and straw purchasing federal crimes punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
- 80% support blocking unmarried domestic abusers from owning guns.
- 76% support requiring unlicensed dealers who predominantly sell guns for profit to conduct background checks.
- 76% support expanding federal support for school-based mental health services.
- 73% support boosting community violence intervention programs.
- 66% support enacting red flag laws that allow law enforcement — with a court order — to temporarily disarm individuals who pose an immediate threat to themselves or others.
In fact, Texas Republicans support even more gun violence prevention policies that weren’t in the BSCA, including:
- 83% support closing loopholes in the law that allow criminals and other dangerous people to get their hands on a gun.
- 82% support requiring background checks on all gun sales.
- 76% support cracking down on untraceable guns sold without background checks, also known as ghost guns.
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