US Sen. Heinrich introduces new gun-control measure by invoking Farmington shooting

The mass shooting that took place in Farmington in May was back in the spotlight on Dec. 5 when New Mexico’s senior U.S. senator invoked the incident while introducing a new gun-control measure in Congress.

While introducing the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act he has authored with Sen. Angus King, an Independent representing Maine, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, cited the Farmington shooting as an example of the kind of tragedy made possible by the use of weapons targeted for greater regulation in his bill. Heinrich said the measure “would regulate the most inherently dangerous and unusual firearms and mechanisms that mass shooters have wielded time and again against our communities.”

Heinrich opened his presentation by describing how Beau Wilson, an 18-year-old Farmington High School student who was armed with multiple pistols and an AR-15-style semiautomatic, gas-operated rifle, terrorized his neighborhood in May, firing at nearby homes and passing vehicles. Even though he was shot and killed by police officers within minutes, Heinrich said, Wilson was able to kill three women, shoot and injure two police officers and injure four other people.

More: Farmington murders were New Mexico's first mass shooting of 2023

“In that brief 10 minutes of time, the shooter fired off 150 rounds, hit at least seven homes and 11 vehicles,” Heinrich said.

The senator went on to note that the U.S. has experienced roughly two mass shootings a day in 2023 while advocating for passage of his bill.

“My GOSAFE Act draws a bright red line between traditional firearms used for hunting, sporting and self-defense, and the weapons so common in these mass shootings,” Heinrich said, noting that he began working on the measure in the aftermath of a 2017 mass shooting near the Las Vegas Strip, killing 60 people.

“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,” he said.

Heinrich said his bill focuses on those mechanics rather than on cosmetic features that individuals or manufacturers can modify quickly.

“These mechanisms are what allow civilian mass shooters to walk into public spaces, destroy human life at an incredible pace and sometimes even outgun law enforcement,” he said.

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Those features include gas-operated actions; detachable, high-capacity magazines; self-manufactured “ghost guns,” and such conversion devices as Glock switches and bump stocks, he said.

Officials at the National Shooting Sports Federation, which bills itself as the firearms industry trade association, criticized the measure, describing it as flatly unconstitutional and claiming it would ban the sale of modern sporting rifles and most other semiautomatic rifles.

“There is no patch forward for legislation of this nature that would deprive law-abiding citizens the ability to lawfully possess the firearm of their choosing and the full spectrum of their Second Amendment rights,” NSSF Senior Vice President and general counsel Lawrence G. Keane stated in a news release.

Keane described the measure as a knee-jerk reaction to an October mass shooting in Lewiston, a town in King’s home state of Maine, in which 18 people were killed and 13 others were wounded. Keane claimed the shooter in that incident had clearly shown signs of mental instability and made violent threats but was allowed to continue to possess firearms by state and federal agencies.

“Depriving law-abiding citizens of their Constitutional rights for the criminal acts of a depraved individual doesn’t make our communities safer,” he said.

Heinrich was joined at his press conference by senators Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, and Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, both of whom signed on as cosponsors of his legislation.

A news release from Heinrich’s office states the measure is supported by a variety of New Mexico public figures, including Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart, Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina, Superintendent Elisa Bequeria of Lake Arthur Municipal Schools and school board member Patrick Nolan of Las Cruces Public Schools. The legislation also is supported by such New Mexico organizations as New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Rio Grande Alcohol Treatment Program, New Mexico Voices for Children and Taos Alive, the release states.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Heinrich introduces gun-control bill aimed at semiautomatic weapons