Add us to your Google preferred sources What is a “Google Preferred Source”?

The Nevada Senate voted not to fight Governor Lombardo's veto on a gun bill related to hate crimes.

Senate Bill 171 would have prohibited someone convicted of a hate crime from buying or owning a gun for ten years.

The governor vetoed it earlier this month claiming it would deprive people of their Second Amendment right.

The bill would have needed a two-thirds majority vote, or 14 senators on board, to override the veto.

Monday, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizaro moved for no further consideration of the bill.

No one objected.

ORIGINAL STORY: 

Governor Joe Lombardo vetoed SB171, AB354, and AB355, which arrived to his desk on Monday, following votes in the Senate and Assembly on party lines.

The Office of the Governor returned the bills, along with letters from Governor Lombardo explaining his veto justification, to the Senate and Assembly this morning.

“I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans,” said Governor Joe Lombardo. “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.” 

Assembly Bill 355 would have increased the age restriction from 18 to 21 for semiautomatic shotguns and semiautomatic centerfire rifles.

Assembly Bill 354 would have restricted a person from possessing a firearm within 100 yards of an election site. This includes polling places, central counting places and where a ballot box is present.

Senate Bill 171 would have prohibited someone who has been convicted of committing or attempting to commit a hate crime involving violence from purchasing or owning a firearm.

The veto came moments before a scheduled news conference by Democrats to urge Lombardo to sign the legislation. Groups including the progressive advocacy group Battle Born Progress and the Democratic Senate and Assembly leadership stood in front of the legislative building and criticized the decision.

“I desperately wish the governor would put the safety of Nevadans ahead of partisan politics,” said Democratic Assembly Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui, who sponsored two of the bills and survived the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

Lombardo, a former Clark County sheriff, has previously bucked other Republicans by supporting universal background checks. But he still positions himself as firmly pro-Second Amendment, while touting his NRA membership.

The Nevada Republican Party released this statement:

“AB354, AB355, and SB171 are a blatant attack on both the First and Second Amendment rights of Nevadans. Democrats, rather than focus on real harms to public safety like increasing penalties on drunk driving or fentanyl possession, are instead choosing to demonize law-abiding gun owners. This trio of bills was rushed through with inadequate notice, only possible because the Legislature exempts themselves from Open Meeting Laws that govern all other governmental entities in Nevada. Governor Lombardo is protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens in Nevada by vetoing all three of these bills, and we applaud our Governor’s commitment to protecting the Constitutional rights of Nevadans.”

Legislative Democrats released this statement:

"I desperately wish the Governor would put the safety of Nevadans over partisan politics,” said Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui. “After his time consoling the families of the 1 October massacre, I expected the governor to have the basic empathy to realize his responsibility to prevent future mass shootings and gun violence tragedies. Too many Nevadans have lost their lives to gun violence and even more have been left as survivors, wondering when it will happen again. I never want a Nevadan to experience the trauma that I and so many have endured. I will continue to work on gun violence prevention measures during my time as an elected official."

“Today, Governor Lombardo sided with the national gun lobby over the public safety of Nevadans,” said Senator Dallas Harris. “Nevadans overwhelmingly support improving community safety with common sense gun violence prevention measures. At a time when hate crimes are on the rise and communities are increasingly targeted because of race, ethnicity, religion, and other immutable parts of their identities, we should be doing more to protect our citizens. Instead, the Governor has turned his back on Nevadans facing this epidemic of gun violence.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Tags