Purple Politics Nevada is KUNR’s weekly show about the Nevada Legislative Session. In this week’s episode, host Lucia Starbuck speaks with two state lawmakers about bills to limit firearm access for people under 21 and restrict access for people convicted of a hate crime, as well as prohibit guns near election sites.
Click here for a transcript of the audio story.
Episode Overview
Gun violence continues to rise in the United States. For Democratic Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, the issue is personal. She’s a survivor of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.
“It was just such a traumatic experience that reliving it and having to share the story wasn’t something I was ready to do,” Jauregui said. “Then Parkland happened, and I couldn’t imagine these high school students having to go through the same traumatic experience. I, as a grown adult, was having such a difficult time dealing with it that I said, ‘Okay, I’m actually in a unique position to actually do something about this.’ ”
Jauregui has proposed two bills that passed off of the Assembly floor and are now headed to the Senate. Assembly Bill 355 prohibits people under the age of 21 to own a semiautomatic shotgun or rifle and makes it illegal for someone to help a person under 21 obtain one.
“Texas, after their most recent shooting that happened last week, had two Republican lawmakers join Democrats on the last day that action could be taken on a committee to pass the same bill raising the age to 21. This is not a partisan issue. This is a public safety issue,” Jauregui said.
Assembly Bill 354 makes it illegal to have firearms within 100 feet of election polling sites, places where ballots are counted, and drop-off boxes. Exceptions include law enforcement, private security, or if the firearm is stored in a vehicle or private establishment.
Another firearm-related bill, Senate Bill 171, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Dallas Harris, would prohibit people convicted of committing or attempting a hate crime from purchasing, possessing, or owning a firearm.
“This country is in the midst of a gun violence epidemic and that has coincided with an increase in hate crimes across the country,” Harris said. “Anything and everything that I can do to save people’s lives, that’s what I’m gonna do. I see that as job number one, as a legislator, in my state.”
All three bills have passed out of their first house and will now head to the other. Gov. Joe Lombardo would still need to sign the bills for them to become law. Listen to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada with Lucia Starbuck to learn why these lawmakers are looking to address gun violence in these ways.
Transcript
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
LUCIA STARBUCK, HOST: Welcome to this week’s episode of Purple Politics Nevada. I’m your host, Lucia Starbuck. The name reflects the fact that Nevada isn’t red or blue — it’s both. As gun violence continues to rise in the United States, Nevada lawmakers are considering three major bills to limit who can access a firearm and where guns are allowed. I spoke to Democratic state Senator Dallas Harris and Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui to learn more.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
STARBUCK: Senator Harris, you’re sponsoring a bill that would prohibit someone convicted with a hate crime from owning a firearm. Walk me through what this bill would do.
DALLAS HARRIS: If you commit a hate crime with violence or attempt to commit a hate crime with violence, we’re gonna go ahead and restrict your access to guns. If you are just committed of a hate crime, then we’ve put in a 10-year cooling-off period. It’s really a function of what we thought might be a fair amount of time between the hate crime and restoring your right. We didn’t want it to be forever.
STARBUCK: Some lawmakers raised concerns: Is this gonna take someone’s constitutional right away for expressing themselves? What’s the difference between a hate crime conviction and saying something racist or homophobic?
HARRIS: The entire American legal system is the difference between hurting someone’s feelings. I’ve received tons of emails that aren’t necessarily kind; of course, those aren’t actionable in a court of law. So you need a prosecutor, a jury of your peers to find you guilty, and a judge to of course enter that conviction.
STARBUCK: Why address gun violence in this way instead of restricting gun access for any kind of violent crime?
HARRIS: We’ve narrowed it down to where we find we’re gonna get the most return on public safety, much like we do with domestic violence. We know there’s a very strong correlation between having access to a gun and committing domestic violence and the likelihood that you’re going to use that firearm against your victim; same connection here.
STARBUCK: Why not increase the punishment for a hate crime? Why not make sure it’s always going to be a felony conviction?
HARRIS: I personally am not a fan of making everything a felony. Not only do you lose your second amendment right, you, for a time, lose your right to vote, to serve on a jury. There are other instances that are not felonies, where we’ve decided that we can take your gun away, and there are some felonies where I think that remedy actually may not fit.
STARBUCK: Why is this legislation important to you?
HARRIS: This country is in the midst of a gun violence epidemic, and that has coincided with an increase in hate crimes across the country. And anything and everything that I can do to save people’s lives, that’s what I’m going to do. I see that as job number one.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
STARBUCK: That was Senator Dallas Harris. Next up is Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
STARBUCK: Assemblywoman Jauregui, you are a survivor of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. How has your experience impacted your work as a legislator?
SANDRA JAUREGUI: I actually became very silent on the issue after October 1. It was such a traumatic experience that reliving it and having to share the story wasn’t something I was ready to do. And then Parkland happened, and I couldn’t imagine these high school students having to go through the same traumatic experience. I, as a grown adult, was having such a difficult time dealing with it that I said, “Okay, I’m actually in a unique position to actually do something about this.”
STARBUCK: One of your bills would prohibit anyone under 21 from owning a semi-automatic rifle or shotgun. Why address gun violence in this way?
JAUREGUI: Studies show that people who are under the age of 21 are three times more likely to commit homicide while in possession of a firearm. And we also know that six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the last five years were committed by people under the age of 21.
STARBUCK: Opposition says this takes away constitutional rights from 18- to 21-year-olds. How do you respond to that?
JAUREGUI: You can’t be 18, 19, or 20 years old and buy a handgun. And so all we’re saying is this is a more deadly weapon. If you can’t buy a handgun, then you shouldn’t be able to buy an assault weapon. You know, Texas, after their most recent shooting that happened last week, they had two Republican lawmakers join Democrats on the last day that action could be taken on a committee to pass the same bill raising the age to 21. This is not a partisan issue. This is a public safety issue.
STARBUCK: And another one of your bills would prohibit firearms within a hundred feet of election sites. Why is this needed?
JAUREGUI: Voting is our most fundamental right as an American, and I think we need to protect that at all costs. People should feel safe when they’re going and casting their ballot. But it’s also protecting the people who give up their time to go work at election sites. We’ve seen so many threats to election site workers, and we wanna make sure that we are not discouraging them from doing one of their civic duties.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC BEGINS)
STARBUCK: Thank you to my guests, Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui and Senator Dallas Harris. If their bills pass out of the second house, they’ll need to be signed by Nevada’s Republican governor. I’m Lucia Starbuck and you’ve been listening to Purple Politics Nevada.
(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC ENDS)
The theme song, “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, is licensed under Creative Commons and was edited for this episode.
