ALBUQUERQUE, NM — In an interview with Molly Jong-Fast, MSNBC political analyst and host of the podcast Fast Politics, Sen. Martin Heinrich discussed his renewed push to ban bump stocks in Congress, the status of wildfires burning in New Mexico, and how Democrats can best convey the impacts of Biden-era policies to voters.

LISTEN: Martin Heinrich joins Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast

On the BUMP Act:

“I started working on legislation to prohibit bump stocks after the Las Vegas shooting. I sat down with Jeff Flake, former Republican senator from Arizona at the time. We drafted legislation and introduced it. But we also encouraged the then-Trump administration to create an ATF rule prohibiting these [bump stocks] because they effectively turn a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic firearm … So to see the Supreme Court reverse [the rule], that was pretty shocking. And to see so many of my Republican colleagues now take that on as if it is normal—that we would allow fully automatic weapons—is pretty shocking,” said Heinrich.

On New Mexico’s Wildfires:

“It’s a pretty challenging and extreme situation. We’ve asked for a Major Disaster Declaration from the President. And that process is moving forward. There are resources being pulled into New Mexico from all across the West to fight these fires … I’ve worked for years to help base something called a Very Large Tanker in Albuquerque. They often go to Arizona or even to Idaho, but those assets are based out of Albuquerque. We’ve got hundreds of personnel and the hotshot crews and the other firefighting crews come from all across the West. The scale of the fires today requires a national response,” Heinrich said.

On the Impact of Biden-Era Policies: 

“The policies that [the Biden Administration] put in place through the Inflation Reduction Act are creating great jobs in New Mexico and around the country. We have seen a surge in manufacturing—both new manufacturing moving to the state and also existing manufacturing places—expanding as a result of those policies. The CHIPS Act that reinvested in American leadership in semiconductors has led to Intel Corporation reinvesting in their factory in New Mexico. Those are the things that I think the Biden Administration can really build a narrative around that is very close to what people care about in my state,” Heinrich said.

“We need to drive that narrative. We need to make it happen through the advertisements that both the Biden campaign and campaigns like mine [air]. And certainly in New Mexico, I will drive that narrative, and I will be connecting the dots for the voters … We have to tell that story,” Heinrich continued.

Listen to the full interview here.

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