Giffords Applauds Nevada Legislature for Advancing Bill that Protects Nevadans from Gun Violence
AB 291 bans bump stocks, creates a process to obtain an extreme risk protection order, and keeps guns out of the hands of children
June 1, 2019 — Giffords , the gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, praised the Nevada legislature for passing AB 291, a comprehensive gun safety bill. Coupled with Governor Steve Sisolak’s signing of a background check bill, the Nevada legislature has made stronger gun laws a priority for the first time since the Las Vegas mass shooting, the worst in modern American history that left 58 people dead and injured more than 800.
Route 91 shooting survivor Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui sponsored AB 291. Known as the 1 October bill, the legislation addresses the use of bump stocks, establishes a process to obtain an extreme risk protection order, and includes the language from AB 153, Brooklyn’s Law, originally introduced by Representative Ozzie Fumo, which strengthens the state’s child access prevention laws.
“The Nevada Legislature understands that inaction after the horrors of the Route 91 shooting and the daily gun violence that scars families is not acceptable. This year they have taken significant steps to make the state a safer place to live,” said Molly Voigt, state legislative manager at Giffords. “This moment could not have happened without Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui. A survivor herself, she chose to turn her pain into action by leading the push to pass legislation banning bump stocks, keeping gun owners responsible, and making sure people in a crisis aren’t able to get their hands on a firearm by establishing an extreme risk law. We thank both the Assembly and Senate for passing AB 291 and urge Governor Sisolak to sign the bill.”
“This Legislative session marks the first period since the October 1st shooting in which Nevada state legislators have a chance to come together and implement meaningful changes in our state’s gun safety laws,” said Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui. “I look forward to passing policies that will make our communities safer and take critical steps to tackle the growing gun violence epidemic. I know that this fight is far from over, but improving gun safety laws is something I’m always going to fight for.”
Key Gun Safety Policies in AB 291
Banning modifications like bump stocks is a key element of the bill to address the 1October mass shooting. Bump stocks are specialized rifle stocks that allow shooters to simulate automatic fire without compromising accuracy. Bump stocks allow a person to hold a finger steady, and simply “bump” the gun against his or her shoulder back into the trigger. The person does not have to pull the trigger each time. Bump firing is the act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire shots in rapid succession to simulate a fully automatic rate of fire.
Extreme risk protection orders, also known as extreme risk laws, create a civil court order, issued by a judge upon consideration of evidence provided by a family member or law enforcement officer, that temporarily prohibits a person in crisis from possessing or purchasing firearms. A common thread in many shootings is that family members of the shooters had noticed their loved ones engaging in dangerous behaviors and were concerned about their risk of harming themselves or others—even before any violence occurred.
A Child Access Prevention (CAP) law, originally introduced by Assemblymembers Ozzie Fumo, Shannon Billbray-Axelrod, and Alexander Assefa in AB 153 earlier this session, would create criminal liability for individuals who negligently store or leave a firearm in a location under their control when they know there is a “substantial risk” that an unauthorized child could gain access to the firearm. This would help to strengthen Nevada’s CAP laws by expanding their coverage to include negligent storage. This measure is called “Brooklyn’s Law” based on a tragic accident where a 13-year-old was killed by her friend when they found an unlocked gun in the kitchen.
Prior to the Las Vegas massacre, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence uncovered that the cost of gun violence to the state was $2.3 billion alone. In a new report released a year after the mass shooting, Giffords Law Center found the cost increased by 26 percent alone and highlighted how victims, businesses, and Las Vegas residents continue to struggle under the economic burden of our nation’s deadliest mass shooting.
Earlier this year, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed S.B. 143, a bill establishing background checks in the state. In its latest edition of the Annual Gun Law Scorecard , Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence found that Nevada received a “D.”