Gun, pot initiatives appear headed to the ballot

It looks like we’ll be voting on gun background checks and legalizing recreational marijuana.

Today marks the 40th day of the 2015 Legislature, the day by which lawmakers were supposed to address a pair of initiative petitions submitted by voters for action. But those measures sit upon the Assembly chief clerk’s desk, lonely and neglected.

Under Article 19 Section 2(3) of the state constitution, initiative petitions are supposed to “take precedence over all other measures except appropriation bills.” But more often than not, laws proposed by the people are ignored and left to go to the ballot.

Sure, it’s still possible the Assembly could pass them out today, zip them over to the Senate, where they could be heard, debated and voted upon, and then signed into law. But since these measures aren’t about legalizing online poker or authorizing giga-giveaways to electric car companies, the odds of getting the one-day treatment are slim.

Initiative Petition 1 would essentially legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults in Nevada. It would establish fees for establishments that sell the drug, and a tax that would go to fund education. (Call it tokes for tykes!) If approved, it would make Nevada the fifth state to legalize recreational marijuana, after Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

Initiative Petition 2 would extend criminal background checks currently required in gun stores to all gun sales, including those between private parties. It’s based on a bill that passed the 2013 Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval, although it has some differences.

The Legislature is still empowered by the state constitution to place a competing measure alongside either initiative petition on the November 2016 ballot. Lawmakers could pass those competing measures anytime during the session, and if they did, whichever measure got more votes would win (assuming both got more than 50 percent).

Now, it’s understandable that the background check law wouldn’t pass this particular Legislature, populated as it is with gun-loving Republicans who have introduced bills to expand gun rights, everything from carrying concealed weapons in the unsecured areas of airports, schools and child care facilities to carrying concealed weapons without the need to get a permit. Those same Republicans aren’t going to turn around and embrace background checks.

The closest thing they have to such a bill is Sen. Michael Roberson’s Senate Bill 240, which continues the current practice of voluntary background checks, with the state defraying the cost.

Opponents of the background check idea have never really been able to explain successfully why a background check should be required in a licensed gun store but not between two private parties. It’s not the Constitution: gun-store checks are perfectly legal. It’s not efficacy: background checks have stopped thousands of people who aren’t allowed to own a firearm from legally buying one. And the most common objection — it won’t stop gun crimes — is both speculative and irrelevant. The point is to make it more difficult for criminals and the mentally ill to legally buy guns.

But the really mind-boggling move is the rejection of recreational marijuana. If ever there was a libertarian issue, it’s this one. Marijuana — thanks primarily to the medical marijuana movement and years of advocacy — has become mainstream. It’s certainly less dangerous and causes fewer problems than alcohol, and taxes from its sale could provide a new source of revenue.

And change on this issue is coming fast. In Washington, D.C., Nevada Sen. Dean Heller is co-sponsor of a bill by Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would protect states with medical marijuana programs from federal prosecution. But, even better, it would move marijuana from a Schedule I drug (those considered to have no medical value) to Schedule II. That’s a long-overdue and intelligent way to approach marijuana. Let’s hope that bipartisan bit of sanity prevails.

Perhaps Republicans should have more carefully considered who might be motivated to come to the polls next year to ensure that all gun sales are subjected to a background check, and all marijuana is legal for adults. Because the picture I see in my mind isn’t exactly blue suits, Repp ties and wing tips.

Steve Sebelius is a Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.