Nevada Republican Leaders Are in the Hot Seat for Refusing to Implement New Background-Check Law

[octoberlib]

The mass shooting that killed at least 58 people and wounded 500 in Las Vegas has placed Nevada Attorney General Paul Laxalt in the hot seat for refusing to enforce a universal background check law state voters passed last year.



Nevada requires background checks only for firearms purchases from licensed dealers, not for so-called private transactions in which the sellers are not officially in the gun business. The background checks assess whether buyers are legally prohibited from owning guns because of past felony convictions, legally designated mental health problems, or other issues.

The 2016 ballot initiative, which Nevada voters approved by a hair (0.45 percent) in November, would have added background checks for these private gun purchases. Bankrolled by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and wealthy donors in Nevada, and drafted by Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, the measure employed a mechanism to avoid imposing new costs on the state. Background checks for private transactions would be conducted through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background check system, but a “point of contact” system used by local police for other required checks would remain in place.


In a mid-December letter to Nevada’s Department of Public Safety, however, the FBI deemed the new background checks “the responsibility of the state.” Laxalt, already a vocal critic of the measure, seized on the letter. In a legal opinion two weeks later, he wrote that Nevada could not enforce the new law “unless the FBI changes its public position.”


Laxalt and Gov. Brian Sandoval’s offices gave no indication that they had tried to negotiate with the bureau. Nor, according to gun safety advocates, did they explore administrative options that could have allowed the law to move forward—such as emulating the approaches of states that had passed similar measures. The Democrats who control the state legislature say Laxalt and Sandoval, who is also a Republican, refused to work with them on legislative fixes.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/nevada-republican-leaders-paul-laxalt-background-check-law-las-vegas-shooting/

[SoCalMusicLover]

1. If By Hot Seat, The Article Means Hot Money From The NRA....

Then I Agree. Nevada loves their guns, so they should just accept this incident, and welcome themselves into the growing group of states which have had mass killings. What took you so long?