U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, has introduced legislation he says will save lives and protect communities from gun violence while protecting Americans’ constitutional right to own a firearm.
Gun rights groups said the legislative proposal is clearly unconstitutional.
The GOSAFE Act would regulate the sale, transfer and manufacture of gas-operated semi-automatic firearms by establishing a list of prohibited firearms and prevent the unlawful modification of permissible firearms.
Moreover, Kelly wants to mandate that future gas-operated designs are approved before they are manufactured. Unlawful firearm self-assembly and manufacturing would be prevented under his bill. Machinegun conversion devices would be prohibited.
High-capacity ammunition devices would also be limited under the GOSAFE Act.
Referring to himself as a gun owner, combat veteran and husband of a gun violence survivor, Kelly said that he has first-hand knowledge about the damage weapons such as these cause when in the wrong hands. Kelly’s wife is former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, who was shot in the head during an assassination attempt in 2011.
“We can protect the rights of responsible gun owners and take action to keep the most lethal firearms out of the hands of dangerous people,” Kelly said. “We’ve seen the consequences of inaction. Let’s not wait for the next tragedy to do something about it.”
U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico; Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, are cosponsoring the legislation. Bennett, who announced Friday he’s running for governor of Colorado, said the Centennial State is no stranger to gun violence, adding that his state has experienced one incident after another for more than two decades.
“This common-sense gun safety bill will keep weapons of war out of the hands of the wrong people while respecting responsible gun owners,” Bennet said. “With this legislation, we are taking an important step to combat gun violence in our communities and protect children across the country.”
Endorsements for the GOSAFE Act include Mark Collins of March for Our Lives; Mark Barden, cofounder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise Action Fund, and John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.
The Center Square reached out to Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Mark Oliva, managing director of Public Affairs at National Shooting Sports Foundation, told The Center Square the GOSAFE Act is “blatantly unconstitutional” and that the NSSF rejects the measure.
“This legislation is an affront to the Second Amendment and the U.S. Supreme Court’s holdings in the 2008 Heller decision,” Oliva said. “That decision, of course, held that government cannot ban entire classes of firearms that are commonly owned and commonly used.”
There are over 30 million modern sporting rifles in America today, according to Oliva. Those are the most popular-selling centerfire rifle in the nation, which Oliva said are “used for lawful purposes daily,” including recreational target shooting, hunting and self-defense.
“To put that into perspective, there are more of these rifles in circulation than there are Ford F-150s on the road, the most popular-selling pickup truck in America,” said Oliva. “This legislation is the inspiration for the unconstitutional law that was just signed by Gov. Jared Polis in Colorado, and that bill was amended to ban the sale of these common firearms without a permission slip from the government.”
NSSF also rejects that “unconstitutional intrusion on Second Amendment rights,” saying it runs afoul of the Supreme Court’s holdings in the 2022 Bruen decision.
“Sens. Kelly, Heinrich, King and others who attack the rights of law-abiding citizens would rather punish those who obey the law instead of holding criminals responsible for their crimes,” said Oliva, who’s a veteran. “Instead of crafting lists of banned rights, these senators should empower law enforcement to protect our communities, hold prosecutors, district attorneys and attorneys general responsible for soft-on-crime policies and mandate that judges lock up criminals instead of turning them back into our communities to prey on our innocent neighbors.”
