Nevada’s Red Flag Law Goes To Court and Gets Injunction

With the passage of AB 291 in Nevada they have joined a not so elite group of 17 states plus DC that have passed some sort of red flag law. This one however is already in big trouble.

Lets talk about what the law is before we talk about the lawsuit. This law that went into effect on Jan 1st does several things. It bans any device that allows a gun to fire without a finger making a movement on its own to pull the trigger. Bumpstocks essentially. This would also include trigger cranks and any sort of mechanical device that would increase the rate of fire above what a person’s finger can do.

The next thing this law does is increase penalties for not using safe storage of all firearms. A few other states have done this as well. The intent is to keep guns out of the reach of kids. Nobody wants kids to be hurt or killed, period! What this does is take the choice of how you go about keeping guns out of kids hands away from you and mandates certain steps be taken.

Another aspect of this law has to do with impairment and firearms. It lowers the blood alcohol level at which it is a crime to handle a firearm from .10% to .008%. It also mentions the amount of other drugs allowed, weed is legal there after all. Bingo, it lowers that threshold as well. The new law specifies some mechanisms for mandating compliance with testing should law enforcement have reason to believe this law has been violated. Basically they will get a warrant to draw your blood and “reasonable force” can be used to make you comply. AKA, this is gonna hurt!

At the last minute the legislature decided to throw in the Red Flag part of the bill. A lot of people are pretty pissed at the sneaky way they did this and the lawsuit gets into that aspect. It sets up a procedure to allow ex parte individuals (not a direct party of interest) to file a report of potential threat against anyone they want. A judge must hear the complaint with 7 days and an order of protection can be ordered for up to 1 year. Law enforcement will then go out and seize any firearms you own or have control over. All this without ever giving you a chance to defend yourself. You are then given a chance, at your own expense, to try to get the order lifted by the courts. That should take about 2 to 5 years. Seems fair.

Now, there was something else I found in one of the amendments. It seems to add that a concealed firearms permit can only be approved if “just cause” is given for the need for the permit. Previously the law was changed a few years ago to allow anyone 21 or older who was not a prohibited person to apply for a permit. No one seems to be talking about that and we will do some more research to get to the bottom of this.

Ok, so about the lawsuit. Seems there was a judges ruling in September 2019 that states a judge alone does not have the authority to strip someone of their constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. A jury must find someone guilty of a specific type of crime that would then result is such a revocation of ones rights. This new law allows a single judge to decide these cases so therefore seems to contradict the previous ruling. That sort of thing usually gets it an automatic hearing to decide its fate.

NevadansCAN is working hard to stop this law. An injunction has been filed to block its implementation. This is the first step and will offer temporary protections to the citizens of Nevada. This is NOT cheap to do. Lawyers and court costs take big money and they could use some help with that. A fundraiser to being held on January 19th, 2020 11am to 5pm at Valkyrie Combat Gun Store 4794 S. Eastern, Las Vegas NV 89114. SHOT Show is in town there Jan 21 thru the 24th so if you are going to be there a bit early make sure you go to this event and support those fighting for your rights. If not, please think about donating a few bucks or more if you can. We do not have a Daddy Warbucks like the left does so it is up to all of us to fund this movement.