Nevada Governor Lombardo rejects gun control bill.

Gov. Lombardo Vetoes Three Bills Tightening Nevada’s Gun Laws

Constitutional Protections Cited as Reason for Veto

Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) has vetoed three bills aimed at tightening Nevada’s laws on gun ownership and purchasing. In a release on Wednesday, Lombardo stated that the legislation was in “direct conflict” with constitutional protections.

“I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans,” Lombardo said. “As I stated in my letters, much of the legislation I vetoed today is in direct conflict with legal precedent and established constitutional protections. Therefore, I cannot support them.”

Bills and Reasons for Veto

• Senate Bill 171: This bill sought to prohibit the purchasing or ownership of a firearm by a person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a hate crime. Lombardo vetoed the bill, citing the defendant’s Second Amendment rights and the limited nexus between certain misdemeanor charges and gun violence.
• Assembly Bill 354: This bill would have prohibited, under certain circumstances, the possession of a firearm within a certain distance of an election site and defined terms relating to manufacturing and gun materials. Lombardo vetoed the bill, stating that there is “no notable history” of gun violence at election facilities in Nevada.
• Assembly Bill 355: This bill sought to prohibit people under 21 years old from possessing certain firearms. Lombardo cited an appeals court ruling last year that found California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons was unconstitutional and said that, if the bill became law, it is “unlikely it would pass constitutional muster.”

Gun Laws Across the Country

Several states across the country have sought to either protect or restrict gun laws. Last week, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government’s ban on 18- to 20-year-olds buying handguns violates the Second Amendment. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled it will not halt Illinois’s gun law blocking the sale of certain semi-automatic guns and large-capacity magazines for now, as the matter is slated for arguments in the appeals court.

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