From courage to cowardice: Valadao, who voted to impeach Trump, blows it on gun vote

No less than Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell called the recent gun-control legislation a “package of common-sense and popular solutions” that will help limit mass-shooting events.

Known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, McConnell pointed to compromise as a key reason for his support. “This time the Democrats came our way and agreed to advance some common-sense solutions without rolling back rights for law-abiding citizens. The result is a product I’m proud to support,” he said.

Too bad Rep. David Valadao of Hanford could not come around to that view.

Nor did fellow California Republicans Tom McClintock of Elk Grove or House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield. Central California’s trio of Republicans voted against the act, but were on the losing end, as the House passed the legislation 234-193.

Choosing not to vote was Connie Conway, the Tulare Republican just elected to finish off the final months of former Rep. Devin Nunes’ final term.

Fourteen Republicans in the House joined their Democratic colleagues, including Jim Costa of Fresno, in backing the bill. The U.S. Senate passed it 65-33, with 15 Republicans voting yes.

That all the no votes in the House were Republican shows how the gun lobby continues its stranglehold on the GOP. The result also affirms, yet again, how little the GOP in the House cares about strong policy that will help the nation.

Balancing act

More than most of his colleagues, Valadao has a tough balancing act to carry out.

That is because Democrats have a major registration edge over Republicans in the newly drawn 22nd District — 43.2% to 26%

At the same time, Valadao had to fend off a strong challenge from Republican Chris Mathys in the June primary. Valadao got 25.6% of votes to Mathys’ 23.4%.

It is likely that Valadao made a political calculation that he needed to vote no on the gun bill to satisfy Republicans and encourage them to back him in the fall. Without Republican voter support, Valadao won’t win.

Now Valadao will advance to November to face Democratic state Assemblymember Rudy Salas. He finished first in the primary with 45.2% of ballots cast, and likely is the most formidable foe Valadao will have faced yet in his campaigns for Congress.

Contrast that with McClintock and McCarthy, who enjoy strong GOP voter registration and should coast to November victories.

Poor decision

In explaining his vote to The Bee Editorial Board, Valadao said in a statement that “Unfortunately, this bill’s vague language does not defend the constitutional right to due process by leaving too much interpretation power to the courts, and has no guardrails to ensure millions in new federal spending actually goes toward keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.”

McConnell, the Senate GOP leader, did not see it what way.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden signed into law on June 25, has important provisions that Republicans should have backed.

Among them is an expanded background check for anyone under age 21 who wants to buy a gun. The Uvalde, Texas shooter who killed 21 people was 18 years old, and had legally purchased weapons and ammunition days before the May 24 mass shooting he committed.

The bill also provides $11 billion for mental health programs, keeps people convicted of domestic violence while in a dating relationship from buying firearms for five years, and allocates $750 million to states to confiscate firearms from those determined by a judge to be a significant danger to themselves or others.

Instead of supporting good policy, Valadao chose the path of asinine politics being played by McCarthy and his lieutenants in the House.

Valadao has worked for immigration reform, putting himself at odds with hard-core, wall-off-the-border Republican colleagues. And he voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, a courageous stand.

But this time Valadao went with the crowd.

It is a certainty Salas will use the gun-legislation vote in the fall campaign to bash Valadao, and the Democrat would be right to do it. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a compilation of long-overdue measures. Simply put, Valadao blew it.

This story was originally published July 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.