TUESDAY: Heinrich to Host Press Conference to Discuss Newly Introduced Gun Legislation

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, December 5, at 12 p.m. ET, in the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will lead a press conference to discuss his newly introduced legislation, the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act (GOSAFE) Act. The GOSAFE Act is new, pragmatic legislation designed to protect communities from gun violence by regulating firearms based on the lethality of their internal mechanisms, as opposed to focusing on cosmetic features that manufacturers can easily modify.

 

The original cosponsors of Heinrich’s GOSAFE Act include U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo). The legislation has the backing of leading gun-safety organizations including Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action, Giffords, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, March Fourth, March for our Lives, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence. 

 

WHEN:        Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT 

WHERE:     U.S. Capitol, Room S-115 

RSVP:           press@heinrich.senate.gov 

LIVESTREAM: Here.

 

More information on the GOSAFE Act, including bill text, a fact sheet, section-by-section, endorsements, and more, can be found here.

Background on Heinrich’s Leadership on Gun Safety Legislation:    

 

As a lifelong gun owner and father, Heinrich has worked for years to advance pragmatic, bipartisan policies to save lives, protect public safety, and reduce gun violence.  

 

Last year, following the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Heinrich joined a small group of Senate colleagues to negotiate and pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first significant federal gun safety legislation in 30 years. During negotiations, Heinrich worked alongside U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to secure two key provisions that made firearm trafficking and straw purchases criminal offenses punishable by up to 15 years in prison. 

 

In June, Heinrich joined U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) to reintroduce the Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act, legislation to prohibit the sale of bump stock devices and other mechanisms which cause semi-automatic weapons to substantially increase their rate of fire, effectively operating as fully automatic weapons.  

 

Heinrich first introduced bipartisan legislation after the 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada mass shooting, in which the perpetrator used a bump stock to fire more than 1,000 bullets into a crowd in just 10 minutes, killing 60 people. Under the Trump Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) initiated an administrative ban on these lethal devices in 2019. On January 6 and April 25, 2023, the Fifth and Sixth Circuits blocked the ban – both stating that it would require an ‘act of Congress’ to federally outlaw bump stocks.  

 

Heinrich previously cosponsored the bipartisan Fix NICS Act, which requires federal and state authorities to produce background check implementation plans and holds federal agencies accountable for reporting relevant criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). He also led the successful call to repeal the Dickey Amendment, which had previously prevented the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from funding research on gun violence and its effects on public health.