No sooner had Texas Sen. John Cornyn finished taking bows for delivering 15 Republican votes to pass a bipartisan gun safety bill than he began talking up amnesty.
Cornyn, a Judiciary Committee member, was overheard promoting amnesty with fellow senators and immigration advocates Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). Cornyn to Padilla: “First guns, now immigration,” meaning amnesty. Very quickly, however, Cornyn backed off, calling his comment a “joke.” Attempting to cover his tracks, Cornyn said, “The Democrats and their allies in the media really can’t take a joke.”
Nevertheless, the takeaway among Republicans is if Cornyn was so quick to cave on the second amendment, and deliver a major legislative victory for the opposition Democrats, more tent-folding, perhaps on amnesty, may not be far away. Because of the pride he took at cooperating with Democrats, Cornyn was roundly booed at the Texas GOP convention.
