Gov. Joe Lombardo (R-NV) vetoed three bills seeking to tighten Nevada’s laws on gun ownership and purchasing.
Lombardo said in a release on Wednesday that the legislation was in “direct conflict” with constitutional protections.
“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.”
Senate Bill 171 would have prohibited the purchasing or ownership of a firearm by a person convicted of committing or attempting to commit a hate crime.
The bill says it makes efforts aimed at “decreasing gun violence among those convicted of hate crimes,” but the “limited nexus between certain misdemeanor charges and gun violence makes it untenable to pass a law that immediately puts the defendant’s Second Amendment rights in jeopardy,” Lombardo wrote in a letter to state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Democrat, explaining his veto.
By Rachel Schilke