David Maialetti /The Philadelphia Inquirer / AP
Freshman Kennedi Lawson, 14, carries a sign as student walkout at Cherry Hill West High School in remembrance of those killed in the Parkland, Fla., shooting in Cherry Hill, N.J., on Wednesday, March 14, 2018.
Friday, Sept. 28, 2018 | 2 a.m.
A wave of activism spread across the U.S. after multiple mass shootings this past year, but Congress has made few changes to gun laws despite the outcry.
GET INVOLVED
Email Elizabeth Becker at [email protected]. to connect with the Nevada chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America (part of the Everytown for Gun Safety organization).
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under President Donald Trump sidestepped proposed bump stock solutions in Congress. ATF, under President Barack Obama, had determined that gun laws do not allow the agency to regulate a gun part or accessory, like nonmechanical bump stocks. The Trump administration is taking steps to reverse the decision not to regulate the devices. Experts say banning the devices through congressional action would have been less susceptible to legal challenges than administratively interpreting federal gun laws to say bump stocks could be regulated similar to machine guns.
Members of the House have acted to shore up gaps in reporting criminal histories for current and former service members so that those who are ineligible to own guns do not pass background checks. Representatives approved it as part of a bill allowing cross-state recognition of concealed carry permits, which some say is dangerous because of certain states’ lax permit requirements. The legislation is in the Senate.
Other proposals, such as a federal ban on high-capacity magazines, have received no movement.
Youth activism
Stagnant gun laws have led young activists to speak out nationwide, especially after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that killed 17 people on February 14. In Nevada, that could affect elections. Active registered voters ages 18-24 increased by nearly 38.5 percent from August 2014, the last midterm election, to August of this year. The spike is even greater among 25- to 34-year-olds, up by nearly 42 percent.
In Nevada, a lawsuit tossed out of court is being appealed and targets Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney General Adam Laxalt about the state’s unenforced gun background check law.
The unimplemented law requires unlicensed dealers to go through federal firearms licensees to run checks using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). While enforcement of the law would not have prevented the sale of guns to the October 1 shooter, advocates say it should be recognized to close as many loopholes as possible.
The Legislature could act to fix the gun background check law and close the loophole by requiring that checks go through the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History rather that NICS. The state’s system includes information from the FBI background checks as well as state-based checks, said former state Sen. Justin Jones, who is running for Clark County Commission.
Jones introduced a gun background check bill that the Legislature referred to voters after Sandoval vetoed it (citing Second Amendment rights). Voters passed the law narrowly in 2016, but without enforcement, gun sellers and buyers can continue to operate as they did before the ballot question became law.
Jones said his bill was modeled using federal guidance that suggested the federal government conduct checks for states, but speculated that the FBI declined to perform the checks because of Trump and the new administration. The FBI told the state it would not conduct the checks because of a lack of resources and because of the state’s more-robust central repository.
“We certainly, when I was involved in the process, wholly believed that the FBI would do its job and enforce the background check law and perform the background checks as it does in many states directly from a gun dealer,” Jones said.
