Las Vegas law firm seeks public records related to Question 1
A Las Vegas law firm hired to represent Nevadans for Background Checks filed a massive public records request Monday in pursuit of communication between several state agencies, police departments, the FBI and the National Rifle Association.
The firm Greenberg Traurig was hired to represent the campaign after the gun background check measure was blocked from its planned Jan. 1 implementation because the FBI refused to perform the background checks. Nevada voters in November approved the initiative to expand firearm background checks to private-party sales and transfers.
A late-December opinion issued by the office of Republican Attorney General Adam Laxalt said the law cannot commence, because the language of the law requires those background checks to go through the FBI and not the in-state system used for retail gun sales.
Records requests were submitted Monday to the Nevada offices of Laxalt, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, the Department of Public Safety, and sheriff’s departments in Carson City, Washoe County and Storey County. The requests seek communication from staffers about Question 1 and any correspondence with the National Rifle Association.
A Freedom of Information Act request also was submitted to the FBI seeking records of all correspondence with Nevada officials about the background check law and all records related to the FBI’s Dec. 14 letter to the Department of Public Safety, in which the agency stated the new law could not “dictate how federal resources are applied.”
State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, has said the Senate will consider legislative solutions to ensure that the new law is enacted. The legislative session began last week.
Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.
