Democrats in the Nevada Legislature are sending a trio of bills aimed at reducing gun violence to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk, setting the stage for the Republican’s first potential vetoes since assuming office in January.
On Monday, the Assembly voted 27-14 on Senate Bill 171, which would prevent people convicted of hate crimes — a gross misdemeanor — from owning a firearm for 10 years following their conviction.
The Senate, meanwhile, voted 12-8 to pass Assembly Bills 354 and 355, which close loopholes to obtain and build so-called ghost guns, and raise the age to 21 to purchase an assault-style rifle or semi-automatic shotgun, respectively.
All three bills passed on party-line votes, though state Sen. Skip Daly, D-Reno, was marked excused for votes on ABs 354 and 355.
The bills now head to Lombardo’s desk. His office was mum on whether the governor would veto the legislation.
“As bills are presented to Gov. Lombardo in their final form, our office will comment and respond appropriately,” Elizabeth Ray, communications director for the governor’s office, said in a statement.
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.
“Gun violence is an inescapable epidemic across the nation that is devastating our communities and tearing families apart,” Assembly Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui, D-Las Vegas, said in a statement. “Too many Nevadans have lost their lives to this tragedy and even more have been left as survivors, wondering when it will happen again.”
Jauregui, a survivor of the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, said she never wants “another Nevadan to experience the trauma that I and so many others have endured. The time to act is now. These bills are common sense gun violence prevention measures that will make everyday Nevadans safer and more secure in their community.”
Sen. Dallas Harris, D-Las Vegas, who introduced SB 171, also declared the bill's passage as a victory.
“Mass shootings have hurt communities all across the country, including multiple devastating shootings motivated by racial and ethnic hatred,” Harris said. “That’s why closing the loophole to prevent people convicted of hate crimes from purchasing firearms is critical to the safety of all Nevadans.”
AB 354 also contains provisions to prohibit carrying a firearm within 100 yards of an election polling place. AB 355 carves out exceptions for certain young people to own assault weapons if they are members of the armed forces or law enforcement.
Detractors, however, say the bills deprive law-abiding Nevadans the ability to defend themselves.
“The theory that firearms are somehow the cause of violence in American society — if you really believe that, then the first thing we should do is as a legislative body is, No. 1, disarm our own law enforcement community,” Sen. Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said from the Senate floor following the passage of the bills.
In 2021, Nevada recorded 633 firearms deaths with a rate of 19.8 deaths per 100,000 people, which ranked 15th-most in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s when data was most recently made public, and that rate has grown every year since 2019 (547 deaths in 2020 and 490 in 2019).
Gun deaths in Nevada have also risen 18% from 2009 to 2018, an equal increase over the same time period nationwide, according to the gun control advocacy group Everytown.