Stop the assault on Nevada’s right to enforce its own gun laws

Daniel Vice

Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011 | 2 a.m.

In an unprecedented assault on states’ rights and our ability to keep our communities safe, the gun lobby is pushing dangerous federal legislation to override Nevada’s gun laws. The National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, more accurately called the Packing Heat on Your Street Act, would allow out-of-state visitors to carry loaded, concealed handguns even if these folks would be violating Nevada law. Nevada residents, on the other hand, would be subject to a different, tougher set of standards for carrying concealed weapons.

Even the NRA has admitted that this is a full-on attack against the very notion that states may set their own strong public safety laws, with the NRA bluntly arguing that “states don’t have rights.” This is the gun lobby’s excuse for federal intrusion into Nevada’s decision to require basic safety training and prohibit gun carrying by alcohol abusers and many violent criminals. If this law is enacted, a new standard would be set for out-of-state visitors, allowing them to carry guns even if they abuse alcohol or have been convicted of violent crimes.

We know that people carrying loaded, concealed guns can commit dangerous crimes. Look no further than the arrest last week of the sponsor of a law allowing loaded guns in bars, for, you guessed it, carrying a loaded gun while drunk. Or take the case of Marqus Hill, who obtained a Florida permit after his Pennsylvania permit was revoked. Hill assaulted a police officer, yet with his out-of-state Florida permit making him a legal concealed carrier in Pennsylvania, Hill shot an 18-year-old 13 times and was charged with homicide. The list goes on, with nearly a dozen police officers and 370 others killed by concealed carry permit holders in just the past four years, as documented by the Violence Policy Center. The “Packing Heat on Your Street” bill would force Nevada to allow dangerous people like these to carry loaded guns on Nevada’s streets.

The gun lobby legislation also would impose a new federal mandate, overturning Nevada’s decisions concerning which states have requirements strong enough to allow the carrying of loaded guns on Nevada’s streets.

The bill also would undo Nevada’s decision to stop honoring Utah concealed carry permits after reports exposed severe weaknesses in Utah’s mail-order permitting system. Utah has granted more than 100,000 concealed carry permits to nonresidents with minimal screening, including foreign citizens from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Switzerland. Why should the federal government force Nevada to let these nonresidents carry loaded guns when they may not meet Nevada’s basic safety standards?

Congress will soon be considering this dangerous assault on states’ rights and public safety. Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller should take a stand for Nevada and vigorously oppose this attempt to impose federal mandates that would override Nevada’s decision about who qualifies to carry loaded, concealed guns in public. It is crucial that Nevadans reach out to their senators and tell them to oppose the “Packing Heat on Your Street” bill and stand up for states’ rights and the safety of our communities.

Daniel Vice is senior attorney at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.