Bill to keep guns out of hands of mentally ill sent to Sandoval

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Senate gave final legislative approval Tuesday to a measure designed to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

The Senate concurred with an amendment to Senate Bill 240, sending the bill to Gov. Brian Sandoval.

SB240 was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson.

Among other things, it allows voluntary, free background checks for private-party gun sales. It also requires courts to transmit within five business days any order, judgment, conviction or plea involving a finding of mental illness to the state’s criminal history repository.

The measure also requires mental health professional to seek emergency hospitalization if a patient makes an explicit threat of violence, or to inform the threatened person and notify law enforcement.

Roberson said the bill aims to keep guns out of the hands of those suffering from mental illness “without enacting overly restrictive gun control laws and thus upholding our constitutional rights.”

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Find her on Twitter: @SandraChereb.