Republican Who Represents Uvalde Ripped for Twitter Response, Gun Support

Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who had previously stated his aversion to any gun control legislation, is getting slammed for his social media response following a shooting that killed 15 people, including 14 children.

Gonzales, who represents Texas' 23rd Congressional District including the city of Uvalde, on Tuesday afternoon posted a message on Twitter that his "heart breaks for the city of Uvalde," directing people to pray for those affected along with a Bible verse mentioning young children.

Soon after his post went up, people began responding with screenshots of tweets from Gonzales reminding him of his previous comments on gun control, including one from March 2021 where he wrote that he had "voted NO on two gun control measures in the House today" and that he is a "proud supporter of the Second Amendment and will do everything I can to oppose gun grabs from the far left."

One person in response to Gonzales pointed out his close relationship with the National Rifle Association (NRA).

"Tony Gonzales said the 'radical left wants to take your guns,' celebrated his perfect grade from the NRA, received just shy of the max contribution from the NRA PAC [and] voted against the violence against women act and firearm background checks," the user wrote.

Social media's negative reaction to Gonzales followed authorities responding to Robb Elementary School for an active shooter just after 1 p.m. Fifteen people, including 14 children have been killed.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbott identified the shooter as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos and also stated that Ramos was killed by officers responding to the scene.

An editor for BuzzFeed asked the congressman if his social media post would help revive those who lost their lives.

"Is your bible verse tweet going to bring back the 15 innocent lives lost today and the countless others lost to senseless and preventable gun violence or?"

Another Twitter user said: "This is the "uvalde representative who recently voted NO on two gun measures. @TonyGonzales4TX is one of the many hypocrites in the Texas legislature who does not care about the lives of the Hispanic children and teacher senselessly murdered today."

One person responded to the representative that he will have to answer to God for his actions on gun control.

"One day you'll stand before God and all those dead children and try to justify the disgusting life you led," the individual wrote.

Another user stated that given the congressman's actions on guns, he has "no heart" because he "voted against sensible gun regulations."

Tuesday's mass shooting comes just weeks after 10 people were shot dead at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, allegedly wrote before the shooting that he was looking to "kill as many Blacks as possible."

Newsweek reached out to Gonzales' office for comment.