Martin Heinrich: “like many of my constituents in New Mexico, I am a gun owner. I have a sincerely held respect of law- abiding gun…”

“like many of my constituents in New Mexico, I am a gun owner. I have a sincerely held respect of law- abiding gun ownership. Many of my own most cherished memories involve the responsible use of a firearm to feed my family and to forge memories with my sons and my closest friends. But those same sons grew up doing active shooter drills in their classrooms, something that would have been absolutely unimaginable when I was their age. And just this spring, my son's high school was on lockdown when I arrived, due to a nearby shooting that actually involved students from that high school. That type of experience has become all too common in our country. The gun violence our communities are experiencing is appalling, and it is unacceptable. It is evident from the unthinkable mass shootings that we have witnessed in Uvalde and Buffalo and Tulsa and Vestavia Hills and El Paso. And it is evident in the mounting number of gun homicide and gun suicides that have taken tens of thousands of lives each year. My home State of New Mexico continues to struggle with one of the highest rates of gun deaths in the country; and in recent years, far too many New Mexicans have lost friends and family members to this epidemic of violence. I personally refuse to accept the idea that we are so divided in this country that we can't do something to make this situation better.…”