Cornyn Called Out Over Short Memory on Gun Control

Members of Congress pop off on X, formerly Twitter, all the time. It’s one of the more important uses of the platform for them, but there’s a risk there.

See, you can chirp all you want, but people get to chirp back. You’re not really immune from criticism and it’s really kind of impossible to create a true echo chamber, even if that’s your desire. People will still say what they want to say and say it where you can see it, at least until you mute or block them or something.

That’s a lesson Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was reminded of on Wednesday evening.

After trying to get a dig in at his primary opponent, Texas AG Ken Paxton, he was asked a simple question based on the wording.

I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, so the smart move would have been to just ignore it.

Cornyn, however, isn’t that smart.

Seriously?

If that’s true, his mind is as gone as Biden’s.

Luckily, Texas Gun Rights was happy to remind him.

That’s right, Cornyn was the primary reason we got saddled with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. He rallied enough Republican votes to break the filibuster, thus foisting gun control onto the American people, which came with a lot of issues that we’re still trying to deal with.

Cornyn was awfully proud of it at the time. He celebrated it. He bragged about his efforts.

It wasn’t until after that that he suddenly started trying to play damage control.

Now, he’s just trying to pretend it never happened. Of all the tactics for deflecting criticism for bad decisions, that’s certainly one of them.

I get that Cornyn doesn’t want to have to defend his Second Amendment record in Texas, of all places, and that’s one area where Paxton is going to eat his lunch and everyone knows it. It’s obvious that on this issue in particular, he’s going to lose.

But could he (or at least his social media team) have just ignored the comment? Absolutely. The smart move would have just pretended he didn’t see it. I’d imagine a senator’s X notifications get a lot of comments, so it’s easy to legitimately miss things. Pretending that’s what happened would have been cowardly, but still smart.

Or, he could have tried to defend it, or admitted that he screwed up royally. I’d have at least respected the latter, at least. I’d still want him gone because there’s no way I’d trust him not to screw up like that again, but I respect a lawmaker admitting they made an error, if for no other reason than it’s so rare. He didn’t do that, though.

Instead, he just played Biden…I mean, dumb (same thing, really).

Well, Cornyn might have a short memory–I don’t buy it, but let’s play like he’s being honest here–but the internet doesn’t. He did Biden’s bidding to help get the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act passed, was proud of the effort, and now he’s playing dumb because his constituents aren’t happy about it and he thinks so little of them that he thinks a denial like this will work.

August 14, 1945

With his cabinet tied and deadlocked on whether to end the war or continue on, Emperor Hirohito uses his personal prestige and decides to surrender, and later records the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the Greater East Asia War and instructs the government to transmit to the Allies the full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration and surrender of Japan.

A group of Imperial Army officers begin an attempt at a coup d’état to stop the surrender, confiscate the recording and occupy the Imperial Palace.

 

Voter Registration vs. Gun Registration: Should We Register Both?

The debate over firearm registration often includes a familiar analogy: “We register to vote, so why not register to own a gun?”

At first glance, the comparison appears simple—both voting and keeping arms are rights protected by the Constitution. However, a closer look at the legal, historical, and functional differences between these rights reveals why the analogy is flawed.

The Constitutional Foundations

  • Multiple constitutional amendments (15th, 19th, 24th, 26th) protect voting, which is recognized as a cornerstone of representative democracy.
  • The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is explicitly protected by the Second Amendment, with the clear directive that it “shall not be infringed.”

While both rights are essential to liberty, the Second Amendment contains an unusually strong prohibition on government interference—language not mirrored in voting amendments. This distinction matters: it shows the framers saw the keeping of arms as a safeguard against government overreach, not just a civic process to be managed.

The Purpose of Registration in Each Context

  • Voter Registration exists to confirm eligibility: age, residency, citizenship, and prevention of fraud. It does not restrict the existence or possession of the right itself; it simply manages when and where it is exercised.
  • Gun Registration, by contrast, involves cataloging the private ownership of specific tools that can be physically seized. This creates a direct pathway to confiscation—something voting registration does not enable.

In practical terms, voter rolls are lists of people eligible to cast a ballot; they are not inventories of ballots stored in citizens’ homes. A firearm registry is an inventory—linking specific tools to specific individuals—making the potential for abuse much higher.

Historical Risks of Gun Registration

Throughout the 20th century, authoritarian regimes often began disarming citizens by first requiring registration. Historical examples from Germany, the Soviet Union, and other nations illustrate how such registries became tools for confiscation, leaving the population defenseless against state power.

Voter registration lists have never been used to prevent lawful citizens from casting ballots in a similar sweeping, physical manner. While voter suppression exists as a political problem, it is not comparable to the armed seizure of constitutionally protected property.

The Role of Government Trust

Supporters of gun registration argue it could help law enforcement assess risk before responding to dangerous calls. Opponents note that it requires a level of trust in government that the Second Amendment was specifically designed to limit.

Voting rights advocates may accept government control over voter rolls because the act of voting inherently depends on a centralized process—elections. Gun ownership, however, exists independent of the state and is meant, in part, to provide a counterbalance to it.

Key Differences in Liberty Impact

Aspect Voter Registration Gun Registration
Purpose Verify eligibility Track possession of physical property
Risk of Abuse Administrative errors, targeted suppression, corruption by non-citizens Enables confiscation, historically misused by authoritarian regimes
Dependency on the State Inherent—elections are state-run Independent—firearms are privately held
Constitutional Language Multiple amendments, no “shall not be infringed” Explicit “shall not be infringed” directive
Effect of Registry Removal Harder to confirm eligibility Removes pathway to confiscation

Conclusion

The analogy between voter registration and gun registration oversimplifies two fundamentally different systems. Voter registration is an administrative safeguard for a state-run process; gun registration is a list of private arms held by citizens—precisely the kind of record history shows can be turned against the people.

In a free society, protecting the right to vote matters greatly. But, protecting the right to keep and bear arms is what ensures all other rights—including voting—remain secure.

Concealment merely hides you. Cover stops bullets.

Discover Cover: Having something between you and the bad guy that can stop incoming rounds is vital in a gunfight.

When folks begin to develop their personal-defense plans, I think one important subject that is often overlooked is the use of cover. For our purposes, cover is anything that will stop a bullet. In addition to the obvious safety value, moving yourself to cover can also disrupt the criminal’s attack plan and cause them to lose some of the advantage they might have had.

And, the good news is that cover is all around us, wherever we might be: Trees, cars, brick walls, that large neighborhood mailbox; the list is huge. Then there are all of the available cover opportunities waiting to be found in the average home: bookcases, large appliances, heavy furniture, even that mattress and heavy box-spring on the bed. It is an excellent exercise to identify all of the good cover nearby during one’s regular daily routine, whatever that might be.

A good dry-practice exercise (with an assuredly unloaded gun) would be to move through your home and actually make use of that cover as if dealing with an actual attack. In the home, on the outside property and at work, there is really no excuse for not taking the time to identify available cover as merely just a defensive exercise.

In Col. Jeff Cooper’s awareness color code, we talk about Condition Orange: the potential threat. For whatever reason this situation is not currently a threat, but it certainly could become one. Our first thought should be to just get away from this potentially bad situation. But, that might not be possible or practical. While keeping an eye on the situation, this is an excellent time to identify the closest cover or areas of cover and decide which one to use if things go bad.

The biggest mistake is to wait until an attack occurs to try to decide what to do. At that point, there are too many other things that require our immediate attention. We might overlook the best cover or exit.

Another thing to keep in mind is that all cover is not equal. Actually, it is your attacker’s choice of firearms that is the problem. Some things that will stop pistol bullets won’t stop bullets from a rifle. And even among handguns, we know that a .44 Mag. will get through things that will stop a 9 mm hollowpoint. That is one of the reasons we look for several cover options instead of just one.

Interior sheetrock walls may offer concealment, but they provide poor cover. The same can be said of most modern automobile bodies, with the exception of the car’s engine. If you have to take cover behind a vehicle, it is very advisable to do so at the front end. And, for goodness sake, don’t then peek up over the hood; crooks will be expecting that move. Instead, get low, on your knees if you have to, and peer around the front of the vehicle, eyes level with the headlights or even the bumper.

I know a highway patrolman who engaged an armed felon as they chased each other around a vehicle. The patrolman went prone and, looking under a car, could see the crook’s feet. His .357 Mag. round went through both of the outlaw’s ankles, effectively stopping the fight.

It is often a good idea for the armed citizen to disengage and get away from the fight if possible. The use of cover allows them to consider and identify an exit while dealing with the attack. However, we never want to turn our back on the attacker while making an exit. Besides the potential for injury, we might also lose track of their location.

We can practice using cover during dry-practice sessions in our home or around it. On the live-fire shooting range, we might set up objects that simulate cover. A barricade post, a wooden cabinet or some such object can give us the opportunity in order to practice our pistol presentation and then quick movement to this simulated cover if your range allows. And we can also practice our live fire from kneeling or prone while using that cover.

Another excellent practice situation would be to find a facility that has an outdoor range with vehicles to use as cover to practice (Gunsite Academy, for instance).  We can practice quickly exiting and taking cover (where the RSOs will permit it). And, again, get live-fire practice on targets from prone or kneeling from behind the vehicle’s engine compartment. Just keep in mind that all safety rules apply, all the time. We are not out there to look cool, but rather to be safe and learn something.

Identifying and using cover should be an integral part of any personal-defense plan. Such a practice is an great idea to keep an eye out for whatever cover is available wherever you happen to be. In a lot of our defensive-shooting classes, we teach students to incorporate movement into the pistol presentation—some call it getting off the “X”—and going to the closest cover is the best use of that movement.

Homeowner fatally shoots armed intruder in Kanawha County; investigation underway

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va (WCHS) — Law enforcement were on Lick Branch Road in Kanawha County for most of Friday after they said a man fatally shot an armed intruder on his property.

“It is very scary,” said Mindy Nichols who near where the shooting happened. “You’re out here in the country. People are kind and then this happens. I don’t know. It just kind of startles you.”

It was just after 12:30 p.m. when police said the homeowner arrived to his property where he was met with the armed suspect who did not live there inside of his home.

“That individual came to the door and met the homeowner at the doorway and the individual had several weapons on him,” said Sgt. Joshua Lester with the Kanawha County Sheriffs Department. “A fight ensued between the two and the homeowner pulled a firearm and fatally shot the intruder that was in his home.”

Police said the homeowner was working on his property, which is not his primary residence when he was met with an intruder on the porch who was armed with a baseball bat and a knife. Police said the struggle moved from the porch down into the yard, where the homeowner pulled a gun and shot the other man.

“We’ll have to kind of retrace all the steps. They’ll have to find where the firearm was fired,” Lester said. “They’ll have to find all of the discharge from that and any evidence that pertains to that, the weapons that were involved. They’ll look at that. They’ll look at the placements of where that evidence fell versus injuries to the victim as well as the suspect.”

These Sarah Brady types must be educated to understand that because we have an armed citizenry, a dictatorship has not happened in America. These anti-gun fools are more dangerous to liberty than street criminals or foreign spies.
– Theodore Haas, Dachau Survivor