Republicans look to revive gun, voter ID bills as 2017 Nevada Legislature begins
Two bills from the 2015 Nevada Legislature that relate to voter identification and firearms on school properties have been revived for the 2017 session.
Voter ID was a priority for Republicans in the 2015 session, as party members said stricter laws would strengthen the integrity of elections. Several lawmakers, as well as Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, supported the proposal, but a GOP-controlled Legislature made little headway in that session.
Sens. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, and Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, helped lead that push in 2015.
They have teamed up in this session, which began Monday, to file Senate Bill 100.
The bill would require county clerks to establish a system whereby voters could choose to make showing their photo identification a requirement before voting. Voters could opt in or out of that system.
SB 100 allows for more wiggle room than the 2015 voter ID bill, which would have required all voters to show photo ID at the ballot box. It never made it out of committee hearings.
Two other Republican senators, Michael Roberson and Heidi Gansert, are also sponsors of the bill.
Senate Bill 102, which is sponsored solely by Settelmeyer, is nearly identical to a bill proposed by Assemblyman John Hambrick in 2015. Like SB 169, that bill did not make it out of committee hearings in 2015.
Carrying or possessing a gun on any type of school property is a gross misdemeanor in Nevada. SB 102 would allow people to have guns in their cars on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education, private and public schools and child day care facilities if certain provisions are met.
The bill would allow guns in vehicles on school properties as long as the vehicle is occupied or locked or the weapon is in a locked container.
Both bills were read on the Senate floor Monday and referred to committees.
Contact reporter Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.
