Assembly disagrees with Senate on gun bill

The bill by Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick now goes to a Senate-Assembly conference committee to work out the differences between the two houses.

"Hopefully the conference committee will convince the Senate that Mr. Hettrick's bill was OK the way we sent it to them," Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson said Tuesday.

In its initial form, AB166 expanded the places that people with concealed weapons permits could tote their guns. The bill included all public buildings unless there was a metal detector or a sign posted saying no firearms are allowed.

One amendment, from Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Reno, would allow tourists or others with gun permits from other states to carry their firearms into Nevada. If here for more than three days, they'd have to notify local authorities.

Washington's amendment folds his bill, SB420, into Hettrick's. SB420 died in the Assembly Judiciary Committee last week.

The Assembly rejected Washington's bill-turned-amendment after Anderson said it would place an unnecessary burden on the local sheriffs.

Before granting non-Nevadans permission to pack guns in this state, sheriffs would have to ensure that visitors had gone through training and background checks in their home states equal to that required in Nevada.

Anderson also said the amendment would create a centralized information clearinghouse on out-of-state permit holders, and the state shouldn't be in the business of collecting that type of information.

Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, said he'd just as soon see Washington's bill pass on its own. But since there's no chance the Assembly Judiciary Committee will pass it out either as an amendment or as a bill, he said he'd rather just see the amendments taken off so his bill can proceed or fail on its own merits.

The other amendment rejected by the Assembly was tacked on by Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas. Anderson said it would subvert the original intent of Hettrick's bill.

AB166 initially allowed concealed weapons to be carried into public buildings unless there was a metal detector or a sign posted saying no firearms are allowed.

But Titus amended the bill so that it now says guns are allowed only in public buildings that post signs saying guns are permitted in them.

Hettrick says the amendment would effectively kill the bill, because public buildings won't spend the money to put up the signs.

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