Following another deadly mass shooting in Texas over the weekend, this time in Odessa, state Rep. Matt Schaefer of Tyler has made it all-caps clear he opposes any restrictions to curb gun violence.
“‘Do something!’ is the statement we keep hearing. As an elected official with a vote in Austin, let me tell you what I am NOT going to do,” wrote Schaefer in a series of tweets after the shooting “ … I say NO to ‘red flag’ pre-crime laws. NO to universal background checks. NO to bans on AR-15s, or high capacity magazines. NO to mandatory gun buybacks.”
The Republican lawmaker’s refusal to budge on gun safety measures is in stark opposition with the majority of Texans, who are united in support of universal background checks by more than 90 percent.
Schaefer’s tweets are not too dissimilar from the position of Sen. John Cornyn, who last week said universal background checks make him “crazy” and said they wouldn’t solve anything.
In response to Schaefer’s machine-gun battery of tweets, one commenter wrote, “You’re a shining example of what has gone wrong with the GOP, especially in Texas. I’ve voted GOP all my life, but won’t be anymore. I cannot fathom how any human being can possibly say what you just wrote. When TX turns blue next yr, it will because of crap like this.”
Even Schaefer acknowledges the political peril his party faces in 2020.
“Democrats have made Texas the top target,” he wrote on Twitter last month, “and we have work to do!”
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
