Sandoval wants guidance on gun background-check law
By Ben Botkin, Las Vegas Review-Journal
CARSON CITY — Gov. Brian Sandoval is seeking legal guidance into whether the state can implement the stalled background-check law for private gun sales and transfers that voters approved in 2016.
Sandoval spokeswoman Mari St. Martin said Tuesday the governor’s office is asking Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s office if Nevada can operate as a “dual point of contact state.” That means two systems of background checks for firearm purchases: one for licensed dealers and another for private sales and transfers.
No evidence has emerged that background checks for private sales would have stopped Stephen Paddock, who didn’t have a criminal record and purchased firearms in retail gun stores after passing background checks. Federal law doesn’t require background checks for private gun sales.