Letter asks Nevada leaders to iron out issues with gun background check law
Proponents of Nevada’s embattled law extending firearm background checks are asking state leaders to iron out the issues with the measure blocked from going into effect Sunday.
Elaine Wynn and Jan Jones Blackhurst co-authored letters to Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney General Adam Laxalt this week to demand the Republican leaders take action to implement the measure.
The background check initiative — narrowly approved on Election Day — was set to become law on New Year’s Day. But just before its enactment, Laxalt said the law could not start because the FBI refused to run background checks on private-party sales and transfers as the new law requires. All other gun background checks are run in-state.
Wynn and Jones Blackhurst, both prominent in the gaming industry, served as co-chairs on the Nevadans For Background Checks campaign’s local advisory board.
“Mr. Laxalt’s recent Opinion, created in the confines of his office rather than a court of law, attempts to nullify a lawfully enacted mandate of the people,” the letter to Sandoval said.
Sandoval and Laxalt opposed the ballot measure. Sandoval’s office did not comment but said last week that the governor would review the opinion.
The letter to Laxalt requested a meeting to discuss potential solutions.
“It is well-known that you actively — and visibly — opposed this new law,” that letter said. “However, the election is over and now it is your responsibility to implement a policy supported by a majority of your constituents because they know it will make our state safer.”
Laxalt’s office said the letter doesn’t dispute the legal accuracy of the opinion.
“It is clear that the proponents of the Background Check Act failed to properly draft the central feature of the Act, namely who is responsible for performing background checks” spokeswoman Monica Moazez said in a statement. “As Nevada’s chief law enforcement agency, and in keeping with our commitment to uphold the rule of law, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of imposing criminal sanctions for a person’s failure to perform an act that is impossible to perform. Longstanding legal authorities support that fundamental principle.”
State Democratic legislators have said they will take up the issue in the upcoming session.
Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.
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