Heinrich Discusses Bipartisan Gun Safety Agreement

By Martin Heinrich Press Office

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) held a virtual media availability with New Mexico reporters to discuss a legislative package to reduce gun violence that he and a bipartisan group of senators negotiated.

WATCH: Heinrich Holds Media Availability On Bipartisan Gun Safety Agreement

The Bipartisan Gun Safety Proposal that Senator Heinrich helped negotiate includes:

• Support for State Crisis Intervention Orders
• Investment in Children and Family Mental Health Services
• Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence
• Funding for School-Based Mental Health and Supportive Services
• Funding for School Safety Resources
• Clarification of Definition of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer
• Telehealth Investments
• Under 21 Enhanced Review Process
• Penalties for Straw Purchasing

During the media availability, Senator Heinrich delivered remarks and then took questions from the press.

Senator Heinrich’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery are below.

Thanks, everyone, for joining me this afternoon.

Over these past weeks, I have been working hard to find a meaningful path forward in the Senate to reduce gun violence.

Yesterday, we announced an initial framework proposal that has the support of a group of 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans in the Senate.

We can dive a bit more into the details of our agreement.

But I would first like to frame the way that I have approached these negotiations.

I am a gun owner who hunts primarily to provide food for my family.

I have a deep, lifelong respect for law abiding gun ownership.

But I also have two kids who grew up doing active shooter drills, things that would have been unimaginable when I was their age.

And recently, when I went to pick up my son at Albuquerque High, they were on lockdown due to a student-on-student shooting event.

The level of gun violence in our country is appalling and unacceptable.

My home state of New Mexico continues to struggle with one of the highest rates of gun deaths in the country.

In recent years, far too many New Mexicans have lost friends and family members to gun violence.

And it’s not just in the types of unthinkable mass shootings that have seen become all too common around the country.

It’s also the mounting number of gun homicides and gun suicides.

So I personally just refuse to accept the idea that we are so divided in this country that we can’t make this situation better.

The New Mexico Legislature to their credit has taken major steps in the past few years to reduce gun violence.

Steps that many people long said were impossible.

The United States Senate should do the same.

And that’s exactly why I have joined my good friend, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, at the table to find real solutions.

These bipartisan negotiations show that we can work together and that we can create policies that will save lives.

Our Bipartisan Framework includes federal resources to help states and Tribes implement Crisis Intervention Orders laws.

New Mexico recently passed one of these laws at the state level to ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others.

We are also enhancing the review process for buyers under 21 years of age.

This new process requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.

We are requiring that convicted domestic violence abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders are included in the federal background check database—whether or not the abuser is married to the victim.

We’re making major investments in community behavioral health, school-based mental health services, and increased access to behavioral health services through telehealth.

We’re strengthening programs to help institute safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools, support school violence prevention efforts, and provide training to school personnel and students.

We are increasing penalties on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements for Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers.

And I specifically worked closely on provisions that will crack down on criminals who make straw purchase or who traffic in firearms.

Ironically, while trafficking firearms into the U.S. is a major crime, trafficking firearms out of the U.S. is not.

And for years, trafficking out of the United States has supplied the majority of guns used to commit crimes in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

That ends here.

We’re taking on gun violence at home, and our role in gun violence internationally.

Now I fully recognize that the compromise here is just a beginning.

But progress has to begin somewhere.

The hardest part of every negotiation is letting go of the perfect for the possible.

My focus through this entire process has been saving lives.

Each life we save means everything to that person’s loved ones.

This deal will protect public safety.

It will save lives.

It will make change we that can finally build upon.

And now that we have come together on this framework, we need to move quickly to hammer out the legislative language for this bill.

That is literally happening as we speak.

We need to meet this moment—when so many parents worry about the safety of their children and so many communities across our country are grappling with deadly gun violence—with real meaningful action.

And that’s what this framework is all about.