Cornyn is acting as a chief negotiator in the bipartisan talks.

Since the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, calls have been rising for new, more comprehensive changes to gun control laws in the United States. Bipartisan talks on the subject have been ongoing for weeks now, with both sides attempting to reach some kind of consensus between Second Amendment rights and public safety.

As bipartisan talks on legislation to tackle gun violence heat up, the chief Senate Republican negotiator, Sen. Cornyn, finds himself in a familiar place: swatting away claims that the Senate is scheming to trample the 2nd Amendment. https://t.co/6oIR47GShm

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 8, 2022

One of the central figures of this debate is Texas Senate Republican John Cornyn, who earlier this week spoke about the rising need for comprehensive gun safety. Cornyn is a well-known supporter of both the Second Amendment and the NRA, but even so, he has claimed that change still needs to happen.

“We are not talking about restricting the rights of current law-abiding gun owners or citizens,” Cornyn said Monday. “What I’m interested in is keeping guns out of the hands of those who, by current law, are not supposed to have them: people with mental health problems, people who have criminal records.”

Moved by past mass shootings in their states, Sens. John Cornyn and Chris Murphy are working together to build bipartisan support for legislation to reduce gun violence https://t.co/TM6mwBhvyu

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 6, 2022

Connecticut Senator and Democratic negotiator Chris Murphy echoed Cornyn’s sentiment, signaling his intent to work with him on reaching a compromise. “Parents are scared to death we’re going to do nothing. Ultimately, the vast majority of Americans are demanding we step up and do something,” he said.