Texas Republican Defends Gun Legislation as 'Mental Health Bill'

Many lawmakers in Washington, D.C., argued that something was different about the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Perhaps it was the death toll—19 elementary school children and two adults. Maybe it was the heavily criticized police response or the fact that it had been nearly 30 years since Congress passed any gun legislation. It could have been a myriad of factors, but whatever it was, it was enough to convince legislators to act.

With enough Republicans willing to break the stalemate on Capitol Hill, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act became the first major piece of federal gun reform to clear both chambers since the 1993 Brady Bill.

Yet, despite the renewed calls for gun reform and the pressure on Texas officials to respond to public outrage in one of the nation's most gun-friendly states, only one House Republican from Texas voted for the bill.

Representative Tony Gonzales' decision to break with his party didn't come without a backlash. While most of the responses from his constituents have been positive, he told Newsweek on Monday, a quarter of those messages have been negative.

"This isn't my first tough vote," he said. "Every vote I take, I have to explain myself, which is fine. I lean into it. I explain it early, I explain it often."

He added, "I don't see this as a gun bill. I see it predominately as a mental health bill."

The new law will close the "boyfriend loophole" in a law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun, provide grants to states incentivizing red flag laws and expand background checks for gun buyers under 21. The law will also set aside new spending for mental health treatment and school security, which is what Gonzales said he's most focused on.

"Texas is ranked dead last in mental health access," he said. "And that has to change. I think this bill is a good step in that direction."

Republicans have made mental health issues a major talking point in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, arguing that the incident was caused by a mentally ill gunman.

The link between mass shootings and mental health issues was widely criticized by Democrats, who contended that the latter are not causing America's high rates of gun violence but instead wide and easy access to firearms.

"Spare me the bulls**t about mental illness," Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, a lead negotiator on the federal law, told reporters in May. "We don't have any more mental illness than any other country in the world. You cannot explain this through a prism of mental illness because we're not an outlier on mental illness."

He went on, "We're an outlier when it comes to access to firearms and the ability of criminals and very sick people to get their hands on firearms. That's what makes America different."

But Gonzales, whose district includes Uvalde, argued that it's not the prominence of mental health issues in the country that is leading to devastating mass shootings. Instead, it's the lack of available treatment.

"There's barely any resources in urban America," he said. "There are no resources in rural America."

Uvalde has about 15 mental health professionals based in the town of roughly 15,000 people, according to the U.S. Department of Human and Health Services. Last month, The Texas Tribune reported that there is only one psychiatrist affiliated with Uvalde Memorial Hospital and no dedicated mental health facility in the city.

"The investment in that, ultimately, is going to change a lot of lives," Gonzales said. "I know we're talking about the violence of mental health, but there's a whole lot of other aspects of mental health too. Whether it's depression, whether it's anxiety—people who fall into that category, they need help just the same."

When making his decision on supporting the bill, Gonzales said he asked himself whether the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act would have prevented the shooting in Uvalde. In the end, he decided that the bill's funding for mental health, coupled with the enhanced background checks for minors, would have saved those 21 lives.

While he is pleased that the bill was signed into law by President Joe Biden, he said the legislation "isn't a win until we bring those dollars back home."

In the meantime, he said he hopes that members of the House can follow the example of the Senate's bipartisan leadership and put partisan politics aside.

"If the House is going to lead again, it ultimately has to get to a point where it can't be so partisan, and there has to be more working together," Gonzales said.