by TGM Staff
Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed SB-221 on June 13, a bill that would have required a background check almost any time a firearm changed hands in Nevada.
The governor apparently was carrying through on his earlier promises to kill legislation that attracted interest in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting and a rampage at a Nevada restaurant in 2011.
In his veto message, Sandoval said the universal background checks provision “imposes unreasonable burdens and harsh penalties upon lawabiding Nevadans, while doing little to prevent criminals from unlawfully obtaining firearms.” A reversal of course would have required a background check almost any time a firearm changed hands — regardless of whether the exchange was permanent or a loan — and enacted certain improvements to laws relating to mentally ill people and guns.
Sandoval praised the mental health reporting requirements in his veto message, but the hotly contested background checks provisions constituted an “erosion of Nevadans’ Second Amendment rights.” Penalties for those who hand over weapons improperly included the loss of gun rights for two years and, in some cases, prison.
Advocates on both sides of the issue liked the sections mandating faster and better reporting of court-findings of mental illness and requiring a doctor to report a patient who makes a specific threat toward themselves or someone else.
The governor’s office said from the beginning that the bill would not be supported unless the background checks provisions were removed Jones added.
“It’s disappointing. This is common sense legislation that protected rights of gun owners in our state while making great strides to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill,” said Sen.
Justin Jones (D-Las Vegas), the sponsor of the measure.
“In the days since SB-221 passed the Assembly with all Republicans and four Democrats in opposition, Gov.
Sandoval has been bombarded with calls and e-mails urging him to pass or veto the controversial bill,” noted a press release from the Nevada Firearms Coalition. “Telephone calls came in such large numbers that the Governor’s office had to set up a separate telephone line to handle thetraffic, which was running four to one against SB 221 and in favor of a veto.” The Nevada Firearms Coalition (NFC) and the NRA has vigorously opposed the bill, as have thousands of sportsman, wildlife and citizen’s groups and the Nevada Sheriffs and Chiefs Association, citing due process and Second Amendment concerns, and serious issues with the enforcement sections of the bill. As is frequently the case with gun control laws, the weight of SB 221 would have fallen on lawabiding gun owners, while criminals would have ignored it. It also would have disincentivized those with mental health problems from seeking help for fear of forfeiting their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
“We applaud Governor Sandoval for listening to the citizens of the Silver State and letting Nevada’s laws be made by Nevadans and not by out-ofstate lobbyists and activists,” said Don Turner, president of the Coalition.
The veto is a significant defeat for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control advocacy group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars working to get the bill passed, even importing political operatives from New York to campaign in Nevada.
MAIG bought numerous ads on social media sites, news websites and television, in addition to mailing out materials attacking select lawmakers who voted against the bill during the session. Video ads pressuring Sandoval to sign the bill surfaced immediately following the final Assembly vote for the bill.
