Thursday, April 6, 2023 | 7:03 p.m.
Three bills aimed at reducing gun violence were heard Thursday by a joint committee in Carson City, where lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle clashed over the effectiveness of the proposed legislation and whether the bills, if passed, would even be considered constitutional.
The meeting marked the first hearings for Assembly Bill 355 — which would raise the legal age to buy assault-style rifles and semi-automatic shotguns to 21 — as well as AB 354, which would prohibit firearms within 100 yards of an election polling place or ballot drop box, as well as updating existing statutes on the definition of so-called ghost guns.
The committees did not vote to advance the legislation and have until April 14 to advance to another committee. A third bill, Senate Bill 171, would prevent people convicted of hate crimes — a gross misdemeanor — from owning a firearm following their conviction. It’s currently unclear when these bills might be heard again.
Still, with a 28-14 Democratic supermajority in the Assembly and 13-8 edge in the state Senate, the progressive-sponsored bills could in theory pass along party lines but would need the final approval of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo before becoming law. Coupled with existing state laws regulating ghost guns and weapon modification components like bump stocks, these bills would make Nevada a national leader on gun safety legislation, said Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, who is a primary sponsor for both bills.
“Many of you know my story, how a nighttime concert in Las Vegas turned into a nightmare,” said Jauregui, a survivor of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting on the Strip in which 60 people were killed and hundreds others injured. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. She also noted that six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. dating back to 2018 have been committed by someone under 21.
The minimum age to purchase a handgun in Nevada is 21.
Lombardo, the former sheriff of Clark County, campaigned partly as a pro-Second Amendment advocate and promised to veto any legislation that “takes away” the right to “create our own guns,” according to his campaign website. But the governor has also said he would not comment on legislation until it reached his desk.
Dozens of advocates on both sides of the gun debate convened either at the Nevada State Legislature building or the Grant Sawyer building in Las Vegas to voice their opinions on the bill. Members of the public were given one minute each to testify, rather than the two minutes customarily given, in order to accommodate the number of public commenters, said Asm. Brittney Miller, D-Las Vegas, who led the hearings.
Proponents of the bills painted them as “common sense” reforms needed at a time where gun violence has skyrocketed across the country, and has become the leading cause of death for minors in the U.S., according to a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine.
AB 355 would prohibit anyone under 21 from purchasing or possessing center-fire long guns, like the AR-15, and semi-automatic shotguns, as well as make it a misdemeanor for anyone to supply such a weapon to someone underage. Opponents, however, voiced concern that it would strip away constitutional rights from 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.
Jauregui assured lawmakers on the committee that underage individuals could still own a prohibited weapon if they are a member of the U.S. armed forces or have been honorably discharged. Those under 21 would still be allowed to owned small-caliber and bolt-action hunting rifles, as well as certain shotguns.
Lawmakers on the committee also lobbed questions about AB 354, which would make it a gross misdemeanor to bring a firearm within 100 yards of a polling place. But the bill would make it a class D felony if someone knowingly brought a gun with the intent to disrupt or interfere with someone attempting to vote or if election workers are counting or processing votes.
Law enforcement and security forces would be exempt by the bill. It also would not apply to guns being stored in vehicles, homes or other buildings within the 100-yard radius. Those guns, however, would need to be secured.
