Protesters rally outside Senator John Cornyn's office to protest gun violence
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - In Farmers Branch, dozens of protesters with March for Our Lives stood outside Texas Senator John Cornyn's office today to protest gun violence.
It was led by 22-year-old David Hogg, who survived a mass shooting at his own high school in Parkland, Florida in 2018 and then went on to co-found the organization.
"This is the first time I've been in the state of Texas talking about this issue and there aren't 40+ people with AR-15's outside of this protesting us across the street," he said. "Let's figure out where we can find common ground and actually have a conversation. Not just as Democrats or Republicans, or gun owners and non-gun owners, but as Americans united against gun violence."
The Journagan sisters say this is the first time they've ever attended something like this.
"We saw what was happening on the news and felt like there was something we can do," 6th grader Cate Journagan said.
"I think it's really important that we're out here working together to get our cause done which is meaningful gun reform and gun legislation with background checks which would really help with preventing further shootings in schools," 11th grader Maura Journagan said.
In response to today's protest, a spokesperson for Senator Cornyn's office said the Senator has been engaged in bipartisan conversations this week on potential legislation and listed Cornyn's legislation that has been signed into law to keep guns out of the wrong hands and bolster mental health treatment:
"Senators Murphy, Sinema, Tillis, and I had a very constructive conversation about the best response to the horrific events in Uvalde last week. We've asked our staff to continue to work together to address some of the details that we hope to be able to discuss at some point soon," Cornyn's office told CBS 11.
However, on Twitter when asked if he's open to making gun laws more restrictive, Cornyn responded "not gonna happen."
Today's protest is leading up to a big march planned for June 11th in Washington, D.C. There will also be coordinating marches in local cities throughout the country, including in DFW.
