When California’s State Senate approved SB 2 last week on a 29-9 vote, gun control activists cheered on the legislation. Why wouldn’t they? The Bruen-response bill will make it nearly impossible for those who possess a valid concealed carry license to lawfully carry in almost every public setting in the state, as well as imposing a host of new mandates on those applying for a license.

SB 2 is now headed to the Assembly side of the state capitol in Sacramento, where the Democrat supermajority will undoubtably approve the bill and send it on to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature and a side of grandstanding. Surprisingly, however, the bill has generated a slight bit of bipartisan opposition, including a single Democrat who voted against the gun control measure when SB 2 was heard on the Senate floor.

Mother Lode Democratic Senator Marie Alvarado Gil broke with her party on legislation that would put in place a variety of new gun-related restrictions.

Senate Bill 2 passed 29-9 in the Senate, and Alvarado Gil was the only Democrat to vote no.

One of the provisions is that firearms would be prohibited from being on the grounds of any residence of the Governor or member of the legislature.

Alvarado Gil argued, “California already has the most restrictive gun laws in the country. And now, this bill aims to restrict my own rights under the second amendment.”

She stated that the bill would bring a “heavy fist” of the government to stop people from exercising Constitutional rights to protect their home, family, and life.

Alvarado Gil went so far as to describe the legislation as reeking of “dictatorship”, which isn’t going to win her many friends inside the Democratic caucus. On the other hand, her vote will probably earn her fans in the conservative-leaning 4th District, which is largely rural save for a small slice of Sacramento that’s included in its boundaries. Alvarado Gil narrowly won her seat over fellow Democrat Tim Robertson last November thanks to the state’s jungle primary, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party ID, but Trump won the district by five points in 2020, and the district vote in favor of recalling Gavin Newsom the following year 59.5% to 40.5%.

This isn’t Nancy Pelosi’s California, in other words, but more of a last bastion of a more conservative and (relatively) 2A-friendly state that’s long since vanished from the political scene. From a local political perspective, at least, it makes sense for Alvarado Gil to not only vote “no” on SB 2, but to outspokenly criticize both the legislation’s intent and the anti-gun ideology that assured its passage. Alvarado Gil is correct in stating the California is already home to the most restrictive gun laws in the nation, and SB 2 is yet another burden on those who simply want to be able to exercise their fundamental right to armed self-defense in public.

Unfortunately, Alvarado Gil’s vote wasn’t nearly enough to stop SB 2’s passage in the state Senate, and I’ll be surprised if more than a couple of Democratic Assembly members follow her lead and vote no when the carry killer legislation reaches the Assembly floor. It’s good that there’s at least one Dem in Sacramento who has seen the light when it comes to California’s failed gun control regime, but she’s a lonely voice of reason compared to the hordes of far-left loonies intent on banning their way to safety… starting with legal gun owners first.