2015 could be year of the gun at Nevada Legislature

First there was a dust-up between Senate Democrats and Republicans over a GOP gun measure that includes domestic violence provisions that Democrats said fell short of what is needed.

Then Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, generated some controversy over comments she made in a New York Times story about her bill to allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry their weapons on college campuses.

Fiore told the newspaper that, “If these young, hot little girls on campus have a firearm, I wonder how many men will want to assault them. The sexual assaults that are occurring would go down once these sexual predators get a bullet in their head.”

Firearms are making some noise in the Nevada Legislature this session.

This could be the year of the gun, as Republicans, who are in the majority in the Legislature for the first time in decades, see a chance to enact Second Amendment measures supported by many of their constituents.

Assembly Judiciary Chairman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, said the large number of bills is in part a reflection of concerns that there is a strong movement to curtail gun rights nationally. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg helped finance a gun sale background check petition in Nevada that is expected to go to the voters in November of 2016.

A strong Second Amendment advocate, Hansen said Bloomberg’s efforts are making people like him nervous.

“These are big issues to folks, and there are a lot of Nevadans who are concerned,” he said.

NINE GUN BILLS IN THE WORKS

At least nine bills directly relating to firearms have either been introduced or are being drafted. They include measures to allow guns on college campuses and to repeal a Clark County handgun registration requirement.

There are also related measures, including a bill that would extend justifiable homicide to carjacking situations, and another that would allow foster parents who are in law enforcement or who have concealed weapons permits to carry loaded firearms. Current state regulations require their weapons to be unloaded, with guns and ammunition locked up in separate containers.

Assemblywoman Shelly Shelton, R-Las Vegas, said she proposed the justifiable homicide expansion to car crimes because of concerns expressed by constituents. Ten other states that have similar laws, she said.

The law also provides immunity from civil action for using a weapon in such a situation as long as it was justified under the law, Shelton said. Without such protections, a person could be “victimized all the way through from one act that one person did, and it could last years,” she said.

Then there is the “Pop-Tart” bill that would protect students from discipline for such actions as using a partially eaten pastry or food item to simulate a firearm, possessing a toy gun 2 inches in length or shorter, or using a hand or finger to mimic having a gun. A hearing on Assembly Bill 121 will be held Monday in the Assembly Education Committee.

Finally, there is the Bloomberg-backed Initiative Petition 2, which was submitted to the Legislature through a petition drive. The proposal would expand a requirement for background checks to cover most gun sales. If the Legislature does not act on the measure it will go to the voters next year.

Hearings on the measures are likely to be packed with both supporters and opponents. A Feb. 4 hearing on a bill to allow qualified individuals to lock their weapons in their vehicles on school grounds generated a big crowd.

While Second Amendment measures are not always strictly partisan, party-line disputes arose last week over a Republican measure that would restrict gun ownership for those convicted of domestic violence. Senate Bill 175, introduced by Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, does not address a concern in a Democratic measure being drafted that would prevent individuals under an extended restraining order from retaining guns they already own.

Democrats criticized Roberson’s bill for the omission and for “hijacking” a similar proposal from Sen. Debbie Smith, D-Sparks. Smith is out of state recovering from surgery for a brain tumor.

Roberson’s staff said he has been working on the measure since September and was not aware of Smith’s bill.

Roberson said his bill has been carefully crafted to address a number of issues to get the votes needed for it to pass.

The measure would make it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence, even a misdemeanor offense, from owning a gun. A violation would constitute a felony. It also would prohibit anyone under an extended protection order from acquiring a gun while the order is in effect.

It also covers many issues raised in other bills.

“When I consider legislation, an important part of that is can the legislation be passed out of both houses of the Legislature,” Roberson said. “I am confident that the bill in its current form does a lot of great things and also will have the votes in both houses to be passed.

“It’s one thing to have a bill that might look perfect to some people, but you can’t have perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said. “You’ve got to move the ball forward.”

DEMO LEADER: OTHER PRIORITIES

Senate Minority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, said a concern with Roberson’s bill is that it takes the issue of domestic violence, which needs to be addressed on its own, and folds it into a measure with many other unrelated provisions.

“I think the mistake is to conflate other gun-based issues with that narrow discreet issue when you have the opportunity for bipartisan support to move it out,” he said.

The Legislature needs to focus on protecting women from domestic gun violence, Ford said.

A report by the Center for American Progress found that between 2003 and 2012, Nevada ranked eighth among the states for highest rates of murders of women committed with a firearm. The rate of gun murders of Nevada women is nearly 40 percent higher than the national average.

Ford said he would prefer to see the Legislature focus on the many great ideas outlined by Gov. Brian Sandoval in his State of the State address rather than the many gun-related measures. Sandoval did not bring up any Second Amendment issues in his address. He focused much of his time on education funding and reform.

“He (Sandoval) mentioned a litany of items that the Democrats have fought for for a decade,” Ford said. “And had we started with those, as opposed to some of these other things, you wouldn’t have seen the hyper-partisanship that I think has already existed.”

As to the many gun measures, Ford said: “Democrats support the Second Amendment. As long as they are not hyper-extreme, and don’t provide opportunities to those who have forfeited those rights by virtue of felonies, or otherwise, then that’s a first filter.”

Ford said he has to review the bills in detail before coming to any conclusions, but he did acknowledge that he is personally is opposed to the idea of a campus carry bill.

Fiore’s comments on the campus carry bill prompted Assembly Minority Leader Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, to ask her to apologize. She called Fiore’s comments sexist and violent and other groups criticized Fiore as well.

Fiore stood by her comments. The measure, Assembly Bill 148, could see a hearing in the Assembly Judiciary Committee next week.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.