Nevada’s GOP governor vetoes three gun restriction bills

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed three pieces of legislation Wednesday that would have placed additional restrictions on gun ownership and purchasing in the state.

“I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans,” Lombardo said in a release. “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.”

One of the bills would prohibit people in most cases from possessing a firearm within 100 feet of the entrance to a location that they know or reasonably should know is a polling place. It also would add language to strengthen restrictions on “ghost guns,” which are untraceable.

A second would ban people 18 to 20 years old from possessing any semiautomatic shotgun or semiautomatic centerfire rifle, not including those who are a member of the military or law enforcement, or those who were discharged from the military, reserves or National Guard.

The third would prohibit a person from purchasing, owning or possessing a firearm if they have been convicted of a hate crime or attempting to commit a hate crime involving violence in the past 10 years.

Lombardo said in his message on vetoing the bill about the polling locations that the legislation is “commendable” in trying to increase confidence about the safety of the election process, but it is too broad, as ballot boxes are present at various locations like grocery stores, shopping centers, gyms and libraries.

“It is untenable to prohibit law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights in these areas,” he said.

He said the ban on those under 21 owning the firearms goes against a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year that found a California law that banned the sale of semiautomatic rifles to adults under 21 was unconstitutional. Lombardo also cited the Supreme Court’s ruling from last year on a New York law finding that gun restrictions are only constitutional if a tradition of that type of regulation exists in U.S. history.

He said the country has little to no tradition of regulating semiautomatic firearms for those under 21.

With the bill on hate crimes, Lombardo takes issue with the bill’s definition to include offenses that are punishable as gross misdemeanors, which he said would include additional offenses as reasons for individuals to lose their Second Amendment rights.

The bills passed along party lines in the state legislature.

Democrats had called on Lombardo to sign the bills into law.

Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui (D) said the bills would better protect the state following recent mass shootings, including the one in New Mexico that killed three earlier this week, The Associated Press reported.

“I desperately wish the governor would put the safety of Nevadans ahead of partisan politics,” she said.

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