Sandoval signs gun, school choice bills into law

CARSON CITY — Bills enacting unprecedented school choice options for parents in Nevada and prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence from having guns were signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Brian Sandoval.

The second-term Republican signed Senate Bill 302, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas, which allows parents to receive state funds through an education saving account for their child to attend private school or home-based education.

Under the law, students in kindergarten through 12th grade who have been enrolled in public school for at least 100 consecutive days can receive the per-pupil amount guaranteed by the state to attend a private school.

Students in poverty or with special needs will receive 100 percent of the per-pupil funding, about $5,700, while other students can get 90 percent.

Nevada is the fifth state to create an education savings account program, according to The Friedman Foundation for Education Choice, a nonprofit group that advocates for educational options.

Sandoval on Tuesday also signed gun legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson. Senate Bill 175 prohibits anyone convicted of domestic violence from acquiring or possessing guns.

It also expands 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 cause an occupant harm, and grants civil liability protection to those who use justifiable force.

The measure also ends Clark County’s “blue card” ordinance, a decades-old law requiring registration of handguns, and establishes “state control over the regulation of policies concerning firearms.”

SB175 further expands reciprocity to allow people in other states with concealed carry permits to carry weapons in Nevada. Permits from states that require a class, program or training to obtain a permit will be recognized here, expanding the number of such states by about 10.

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