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Bloomberg Takes Another Shot At Nevadans’ Guns
TND Guest Contributor: Michael Chamberlain |
After universal background check legislation in Nevada was vetoed in 2013, a group connected to billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is back with a petition signature drive to qualify a background check initiative for the 2016 ballot.
The initiative, which would require background checks to be performed by a licensed gun dealer virtually any time a gun changes hands, even transfers between private parties, is similar to legislation that passed both the state Senate and Assembly in 2013 but was vetoed by Republican Governor Brian Sandoval.
The 2013 legislation (SB221) was sponsored by state Senator Justin Jones (D-Las Vegas), who headlined Monday’s petition drive launch by Nevadans for Background Checks, which is tied to Bloomberg organizations.
According to its filing with the Nevada Secretary of State (NVSoS), Nevadans for Backgrounds Checks PAC is affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety. The Everytown organization was formed by a merger between Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) and another group.
Though Nevadans for Background Checks indicates a Las Vegas address for Everytown, all three of the officers listed on Everytown’s NVSoS filing declare the same New York City post office box as their address. All three were also affiliated with the MAIG Action Fund.
During the 2013 Legislature, MAIG Action Fund employed a lobbyist in Nevada who was also a NYC employee paid by New York City taxpayers at the time and the group’s website washosted on servers belonging to the City.
If the current initiative were to pass, all sales of firearms, with only a few exceptions, such as those between immediate family members, would require the buyer to undergo a federal background check at a licensed dealer’s place of business.
Jones argued that public opinion in Nevada supports universal background checks, according to a March 2013 poll that showed 86 percent backing. Also, he said statistics show that states with universal background checks have lower rates of female homicides by intimate partners (by 38 percent) and police shootings (by 39 percent).
“We know background checks help keep guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally ill,” Jones said, whose group says some 40 percent of gun sales are through private means.
Randy Mackie, Vice President, Legislative Division of the Nevada Firearms Coalition, said his organization is “officially opposing the initiative.”
“It won’t have any effect on the problem it is supposed to solve,” he stated. “It also has operational problems. It will require background checks in all transfers,” which include lending firearms.
The initiative would force both the buyer and seller in a transaction to be present at the place of business of a federal firearms licensee, who would take possession of the firearm while performing the background check. According to Mackie, Clark County ordinances require a licensed dealer who receives a firearm to hold it for thirty days while the police determine whether the gun has been reported stolen.
“The buyer has to make two trips,” Mackie said. In addition, “if the buyer fails the background check, the seller has to go through the background check to get his gun back.”
Mackie noted that the requirement for background checks applies to more than purchases. The initiative covers “transfers”, not sales, of firearms but does not define the term. Transfers requiring background checks could include loans or gifts or even allowing a friend to take a malfunctioning firearm in order to repair it.
# # # #
Michael Chamberlain is the Editor of Watchdog Wire – Nevada. Please contact him at [email protected] for story ideas or to get involved in citizen journalism in Nevada. Follow Michael on Twitter: @michaelpchamber
Watchdog.org is an online news organization that publishes articles by independent journalists covering state-specific and local government activity. The program began in September 2009, a project of Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting new media journalism. This article is reprinted with permission.
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Source: http://thenewsdoctors.com/bloomberg-takes-another-shot-at-nevadans-guns/
how about some background checks for the MURDERERS WITH BADGES!!! or do they already do that and just rubber stamp accepted to those with an IQ of 85 or less and just hand out guns to them if they are willing to gun down anyone that they deem appropriate or are ordered to?
Please explain why some one has not already arrested this mutt, bloom’n idiot already for violating his oath to office, sure I understand he’s no longer in this position, but, even a civilian can and should be charged with offenses against the Constitution, why is this so called amerikan any different, because he a billionaire, not an excuse. Go after this traitor for violating everyone’s 2nd Amendment rights and for lieing to the public about his agenda, and who in the F does this one man think he is anyway, god?, its the correct course of action, way past due for this subversive to be held to account for treason and subversive activities against the people, the 2nd Amendment right of We The People, and the Constitution of the United States of America, way over due.
Semper Fi. always and forever, GOD, the CORPS, Country and family.