Heinrich Introduces New Gun Legislation

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) led a press conference this week to discuss his newly introduced legislation, the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act (GOSAFE) Act. The GOSAFE Act is new 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. 

Heinrich was joined by U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), along with Co-President of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence Miranda Viscoli, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action Angela Ferrell-Zabala, and Gun Violence Survivor & Activist Aalayah Eastmond.

“I believed it was important for me to be part of a solution both as a gun owner and as an engineer who was familiar—let’s face it, I’ve shot many of these weapons—familiar with the physical mechanics that make some firearms so inherently dangerous and destructive,” said Heinrich.

The GOSAFE Act has the backing of leading gun-safety organizations including Everytown for Gun Safety; Giffords; Brady: United Against Gun Violence; March Fourth; March for our Lives; Sandy Hook Promise; and New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.

“From Aztec and Farmington, New Mexico to Las Vegas, Nevada, Parkland, Pittsburgh, Aurora, Uvalde and most recently Lewiston, the number of Americans killed in mass shootings has been horrific,” Heinrich continued. “My GOSAFE Act draws a bright line between traditional firearms used for hunting, sporting, and self-defense and the weapons so common in these mass shootings.”

In New Mexico, the GOSAFE Act is also supported by Kim Stewart, Sheriff, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department; Harold Medina, Chief of Police, Albuquerque Police Department; Elisa Bequeria, Superintendent, Lake Arthur Schools; New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Rio Grande Alcohol Treatment Program; New Mexico Voices for Children; Patrick Nolan, School Board Member, Las Cruces Public Schools; and Taos Alive.

What’s Inside the GO SAFE ACT:

If enacted, the GOSAFE Act would regulate the sale, transfer, and manufacture of gas-operated semi-automatic weapons by:  

• Establishing a list of prohibited firearms;  
• Preventing unlawful modifications of permissible firearms;  
• Mandating that future gas-operated designs are approved before manufacture; and   
• Preventing unlawful firearm self-assembly and manufacturing.   

Second Amendment Rights

The GOSAFE Act protects Americans’ constitutional right to own a gun based on a firearm’s established use for self-defense, hunting, and sporting purposes. The bill accomplishes this by including exemptions based on maximum ammunition capacity according to a firearm’s individual class: a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.   

This capacity must be “permanently fixed,” meaning the firearm cannot accept a detachable, high-capacity magazine that would increase the number of rounds that can be fired before reloading and make reloading easier.  

Exemptions:

• .22 caliber rimfire or less firearms  
• Bolt action rifles  
• Semi-automatic shotguns  
• Recoil-operated handguns  
• Any rifle with a permanently fixed magazine of 10 rounds or less  
• Any shotgun with a permanently fixed magazine of 10 rounds or less  
• Any handgun with a permanently fixed magazine of 15 rounds or less  

The bill would limit the number of rounds that large capacity ammunition feeding devices are permitted to carry to 10 rounds of ammunition or fewer. The GOSAFE Act would make conversion devices, including bump stocks and Glock switches, unlawful.