Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has once again stepped up to defend the right to keep and bear arms in the Silver State by vetoing a gun control measure approved by the Democrat-controlled legislature.
It’s the second time that Lombardo, the former sheriff of Clark County, Nevada, has rejected a bill aimed at preventing adults under the age of 21 from exercising their Second Amendment rights. In 2023, Lombardo turned away AB 355, which made it a gross misdemeanor for a person who is less than 21 years of age to possess a semiautomatic shotgun or semiautomatic centerfire rifle. Despite Lombardo’s clear stance on the issue Democrats once again passed the same ban this year, with the stipulation that a second offense would be considered a felony.
Lombardo didn’t issue any statement alongside his veto, but in 2023 he said he would not “support legislation that infringes on the constitutional rights of Nevadans,” adding that “much of the legislation I vetoed today is in direct conflict with legal precedent and established constitutional protections.”
Assembly Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui, who was the author of boththe 2023 bill and the one vetoed on Wednesday, blasted Lombardo for rejecting her latest gun ban bill.
“It is disheartening that Governor Lombard chose to put politics above public safety by vetoing AB245. Raising the minimum age to purchase assault weapons is a straightforward, commonsense step to protect our communities and save lives. Time and again, we’ve seen the tragic consequences when individuals obtain assault-style weapons as soon as they turn 18. Despite today’s veto, my priority will continue to be putting forth policies that help end gun violence.”
She’ll continue to grandstand, in other words. Jauregui knew that Lombardo was going to reject her bill, but she decided to run it again instead of working with the governor and Republicans in the legislature to craft a bill that would address violent crime without infringing on anyone’s civil rights.
Keeping adults from possessing some of the most popular firearms in the country isn’t commonsense, and it’s not constitutional either. For the moment, anyway, adults younger than 21 are already blocked from buying a handgun at retail under federal law, so their options for a home defense firearm are already limited.
In Nevada, though, 18-year-olds can legally possess pistols, and even exercise their right to carry one openly. I don’t think it would have been any more constitutional for Jauregui to have banned pistol possession by young adults, but considering that handguns are used far more frequently in violent crimes than rifles of any kind, I find it somewhat odd that she went after so-called assault weapons instead of pistols.
Of course, I don’t think her legislation was really about public safety. It was a public relations stunt; anti-gun grandstanding masquerading as serious legislation.
As to the legality of Jauregui’s proposed gun ban for young adults, while some courts have upheld similar prohibitions, they’ve done so by holding that 18, 19, and 20-year-olds are minors when it comes to the historical tradition of bearing arms. The Supreme Court, however, has made it clear that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to “the people”, a term that encompasses (at the very least) members of the political community. An 18-year-old in Nevada can participate in elections and serve on a jury, so there’s no doubt that they’re a part of the state’s political community.
We’ll see if Jauregui will try again next session or if she decides to hold off, given that 2026 is an election year. That’s generally the only time that anti-gun politicians feign any type of moderation when it comes to their attacks on our right to keep and bear arms, but there’s no guarantee she’ll back off of her gun ban plans just because voters will head to the polls next November. Silver State gun owners should thank Lombardo for his veto, but they should also get involved in the 2026 election cycle with an eye towards replacing the anti-gun majority in the legislature with one that actually respects our right to keep and bear arms.
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