Nevada gun bill sent to Gov. Brian Sandoval; campus carry bill resurfaces

CARSON CITY — The Assembly on Friday passed a gun bill that would expand and clarify Nevada’s justifiable homicide law and prevent people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from possessing firearms.

The Assembly voted on party lines 25-17 on Senate Bill 175.

The bill, which has already passed the Senate, goes to Gov. Brian Sandoval’s desk. The governor’s office didn’t indicate if he will sign the bill.

SB175 would expand the definition of justifiable homicide to include killing someone in defense of an occupied motor vehicle or someone who intends to enter a vehicle to assault a person inside. The bill also would grant civil liability protection to those who use justifiable force.

It would end a handgun registration requirement in Clark County and establish “state control over the regulation of policies concerning firearms.”

Under the bill, anyone convicted of domestic violence, including a misdemeanor offense, could not own a firearm. Doing so would be a felony.

SB175 would also expand the current law recognizing other states that offer concealed carry permits and allowing residents of those states to carry weapons in Nevada. States that require a class, program or training to obtain a permit would be granted reciprocity, expanding the number of such states by about 10.

Assemblywoman Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, opposed the measure, saying it’s too subjective and tips the scales in favor of shooters who claim they were afraid.

“How do you determine fear?” Neal said.

In another development, the Assembly introduced a new “campus carry” bill on Friday that would allow permit-holders to carry a concealed weapon on college campuses. Assembly Bill 487 was referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Just a day earlier, legislators in the Assembly rejected an amendment to SB175 that would have allowed campus carry. The Assembly voted 24-18 Thursday to kill the controversial proposal, with eight Republicans helping defeat it.

Most of the eight Republicans who voted against campus carry Thursday had a change of heart Friday.

Seven of the eight opponents are now sponsoring the new campus carry bill. They are: Assembly members James Oscarson, Jim Wheeler, Melissa Woodbury, Derek Armstrong, Chris Edwards, Stephen Silberkraus and Lynn Stewart.

Majority Leader Paul Anderson, who also opposed the amendment, is the only Republican opponent who isn’t sponsoring the new bill.

Edwards described the new bill as “cleaner” than the amendment he voted against, but was unable to offer any specifics on the difference between the amendment he opposed and the new bill he’s now sponsoring.

He said the new bill has support and he anticipates it moving through the Assembly and Senate.

But Assembly Judiciary Chairman Ira Hansen, R-Sparks, criticized the move as an effort to gain “political cover.”

“And that is a huge mistake politically, and it was the wrong thing to do, and they abandoned their own party’s base,” he said of their vote against the campus carry amendment. “And now what they want to do, is come back when it is not going to make any difference and they know it, and have me go through the whole hearing process again as we already did on (AB)148, to give them political cover.

“And I think it stinks, and I think we had a shot if they would have stuck to their guns,” Hansen said.

The vote to amend the campus carry provisions in Assembly Bill 148 into SB175 failed when the eight Republicans voted against it.

AB148 passed the Assembly but never got a hearing.

Hansen said Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, the author of SB175, let it be known that he did not want his bills tampered with.

“So they chickened out, they caved in on the whole issue and now they want to come back and pretend like they are going to be the heroes and resurrect the bill,” he said.

Hansen said Roberson’s Second Amendment bills are minor compared to campus carry.

“It is a very critical constitutional issue, Second Amendment issue, and I just think it is a women’s rights issue to a certain extent as well,” he said.

Review-Journal writer Sean Whaley contributed to this report. Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.