Three gun bills have been vetoed by Gov. Joe Lombardo.
On Wednesday, Lombardo's office said he had vetoed Senate Bill 171, Assembly Bill 354, and Assembly Bill 355. Those three bills would have prevented those who have committed hate crimes from having access to weapons for at least 10 years, restricted people from possessing firearms within 100 yards of an election site, and raised the age to buy semiautomatic rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21.
"I will not support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans," Lombardo said. "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."
Lombardo also laid out his reasoning for those decisions in letters to Speaker Steve Yeager and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
For Senate Bill 171, Lombardo said the "limited nexus" between certain misdemeanor offenses and gun violence makes it "untenable to pass a law that immediately puts the defendant's Second Amendment rights in jeopardy."
"This would effectively open the door to more laws restricting others convicted of gross misdemeanors from owning firearms to protect their homes and families," Lombardo said. "It is a better solution to make these types of hate crimes felonies than to further penalize low-level offenders."
For Assembly Bill 354, Lombardo said the scope was too broad and there is "no notable history of gun violence at election facilities in Nevada." He added the bill was vague when it comes to defining the 100-foot gun-free radius surrounding a ballot box.
"Ballot boxes appear in common community gathering locations across our state including grocery stores, shopping centers, gyms, and libraries," Lombardo said. "It is untenable to prohibit law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights in these areas."
For Assembly Bill 355, Lombardo said several cases have already shown that raising the age to purchase certain weapons would be challenged in court and wouldn't "pass constitutional muster."
Majority floor leader and state assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui sponsored two of those bills and said she's disappointed in Lombardo's decision.
"I desperately wish the Governor would put the safety of Nevadans over partisan politics," Jauregui said in a statement on Wednesday. "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."
State senator Dallas Harris agreed saying more needs to be done.
"Today, Governor Lombardo sided with the national gun lobby over the public safety of Nevadans," she said. "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."
