Texas Republican representing Uvalde supports bipartisan gun bill

The Texas congressman whose district includes Uvalde says he plans to vote for a bipartisan gun bill that the Senate is poised to pass this week — even as Republican opposition to the bill appears to be growing. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a San Antonio Republican, tweeted Wednesday that he supports the gun bill drafted by a bipartisan group of senators, including U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, after recent mass shootings, including a gunman’s attack on an elementary school in Uvalde that resulted in the deaths of 19 kids and two teachers. The legislation would be the first significant tightening of federal gun laws since 1994, bolstering background checks for gun buyers under 21 and restricting access to firearms for dating partners convicted of domestic abuse. It also provides funding for mental health programs, school security and for states to create red flag laws. “As a congressman it’s my duty to pass laws that never infringe on the Constitution while protecting the lives of the innocent,” Gonzales tweeted on Wednesday. “In the coming days I look forward to voting YES on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”

The Senate is expected to pass the legislation later this week and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the House will take it up soon after. Gonzales explained his support by sharing that he is a survivor of domestic abuse. “My stepfather would come home drunk & beat on me and my mother,” Gonzales tweeted. “One night he decided that wasn’t enough and shoved a shotgun in my mother’s mouth. I was 5 at the time and not strong enough to fend off the wolves. “School was my sanctuary from the chaos at home,” he said. “Now I am 41, all grown up. Loving father of six children. Served our country in the Navy for 20 years, led men and women in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. I slay wolves every day.” But the bill was drawing growing criticism from Republicans on Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump slammed it as “the first step in the movement to take your guns away,” as he labeled Cornyn a “RINO” in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. While in office, Trump notably supported measures allowing law enforcement to confiscate guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others, saying in 2018: “Take the guns first, go through due process second.” House GOP leadership, meanwhile, told Republicans in a closed-door meeting that they oppose the measure and are expected to push lawmakers to vote against it, NBC News reported. The National Rifle Association has come out in opposition to the legislation, arguing it “leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials” and contains “undefined and overbroad provisions.” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz voted against it and Cornyn was booed at the Texas GOP convention last week, where delegates pushed a resolution rebuking him for working with Democrats on the bill.