Controversial provisions stripped from gun bill

2019

CARSON CITY — Ademocratic-sponsored omnibus gun control bill, this session’s main legislative response to the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 58 people, is getting reworked to eliminate provisions deemed too divisive and politically measure came Friday as legislative committees worked through remaining bills on their calendars ahead of an end-of-day deadline for committee passage.

The amended bill would remove language empowering local governments to enact their own gun control ordinances, currently barred

under state pre-emption. Multiple parties to discussions on the bill, who spoke only on background Friday, said the prospect of ending pre-emption had prompted ardent gun control advocates to suggest potential gun control moves at the local level that moderates did not support — and that could jeopardize Democratic legislative seats in some districts.

Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, D-las Vegas, who sponsored Assembly Bill 291, confirmed the changes in a statement Friday, referring to Everytown for Gun Safety, one of three national gun control groups that have been active in crafting this year’s legislative reforms.

“At the request of Everytown and other organizations I have decided to remove the pre-emption language from AB291,” she said. “This is too important of an issue for me to risk moving forward without the support of a broad coalition.”

Jauregui said the bill would keep provisions banning bump stocks and lowering the legal blood-alcohol level allowed to handle a gun. She added that she is looking at “other fixes to improve gun safety in our communities,” including the red flag laws.

Zoe Sheppard, deputy press secretary at Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement that while the group supported the pre-emption portions of the bill, “it became clear there was no real path forward for this policy this year.”

“But there is a real chance to pass a strong Red Flag law in Nevada that can save lives right away,” Sheppard added. “We’ll continue to work to pass this bill and hope to pass preemption repeal in a future session.”

Additional measures may also be considered. The revised version of AB291 is expected to be unveiled early next week, with hearings on its changes later in the week. The bill passed the Assembly on a mostly party-line vote April 23 and is now pending before a Senate committee. It has a waiver exempting it from Friday’s deadline for committee passage.

The original bill proposed to ban bump stocks such as those used in the Oct 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest festival shooting in Las Vegas, where 58 people died and more than 800 were injured by a gunman who was able to fire more than 1,100 rounds in about 10 minutes. The revised bill retains language that would lower the permissible level of blood alcohol to handle a gun. Jauregui survived Route 91 and gave compellling testimony at the bill’s first hearing on her experience at the shooting and afterward.

The Legislature in February approved background checks for instate private gun sales, fulfilling the intent of a 2016 voter initiative. Gov. Steve Sisolak promptly signed the bill.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@ reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @Coltonlochhead on Twitter. Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@ reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter.