Connecticut shootings spur calls to stop violence in Nevada

Before the Connecticut school shooting, death by assault weapon came to Carson City.

In 85 seconds, on Sept. 6, 2011, Eduardo Sencion emptied three, 30-round clips from his automatic assault rifle, releasing a hail of gunfire toward breakfast diners at the IHOP in the state capital.

The 32-year-old shooter, who had a history of mental health problems, killed himself after shooting to death four people and injuring more than a dozen others.

"When we're talking about mass casualties, it's over by the time we get there," Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said last week after returning from a federal law enforcement training center in Georgia where the Connecticut tragedy was topic No. 1. "We have to think about what we can do before to prevent this from happening again."

And that's where Nevada and the nation stand now, wondering what to do after a 20-year-old gunman killed 20 children and six adults Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Adam Lanza killed himself at the school after shooting his mother to death in their home, using her own legal weapons, including a semi-automatic rifle.

Nationally, President Barack Obama proposed bringing back an assault weapons ban that was in effect for 10 years until it expired in 2004. He also wants to restrict high-capacity ammunition clips like those used in Connecticut and Carson City and close loopholes that let some private gun buyers avoid background checks.

In Nevada, the upcoming Legislature that opens on Feb. 4 in Carson City also will deal with new gun control proposals for the first time in years, including a move to limit assault weapons and ammunition clip sizes.

State Sen. Tick Segerblom, the incoming Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he will introduce a bill to limit assault weapons and ammunition. He said it will serve as "a starting point for discussion" in a wide-open Western state that has one of the strongest gun rights traditions in the country.

"This topic has been out of reach for so long up until now," Segerblom said. "I've always been one of those people who thought, 'What's the point of having an assault weapon?' Obviously, if we could get rid of all the crazy people we wouldn't have to worry about it. But there seems to be really intolerable episodes (of gun violence) that have changed the national conversation. I think even Nevada has changed."

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said he, too, believes it's time to assess public policy to determine what state and national leaders can do to better protect people from gun violence, although he offered no specific proposals.

"Last week's horrific tragedy in Connecticut, which citizens, officials and our country are only beginning to understand, has brought a new focus and increased attention to many issues surrounding gun control, access to mental health services and school safety," Sandoval said in a statement to the Review-Journal. "Our country has suffered through too many of these types of heinous crimes and unfortunately, no one can point to any single solution, which if enacted, would totally prevent such violence."

Sandoval said he had spoken with the heads of the Clark County and Washoe County school districts and the superintendent of education, asking for a review of school security. No matter what ideas emerge, the former federal judge and attorney general suggested the answer isn't to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.

"As we move toward a broader public discussion on meaningful public policy which will curb or end this violence, we must consult subject matter experts on mental health, school and gun safety and explore all options, while continuing to protect Second Amendment rights and individual freedoms," Sandoval said.

DEBATING NEVADA GUN LAWS

Indeed, Nevada remains a gun rights bastion where Republicans and Democrats alike own and use firearms, both for self protection and for sport, and thousands of firearms are bought and sold every year at gun shows.

Adult gun owners can walk around with firearms in this open carry state. About 55,000 people ages 21 and older have concealed weapons permits statewide. The permits allow them to keep firearms close and out of sight except where prohibited in airports, public buildings and places with signs banning firearms.

Background checks are required to buy guns from legal dealers in Nevada. More than 100,000 such checks are conducted each year by the Nevada Department of Public Safety, according to state records.

Felons, people with protection orders against them and those involuntarily committed to mental institutions or judged insane aren't allowed to own guns, although most mental health records are private.

Background checks aren't required for private gun purchases in Nevada, a loophole that could be closed.

Still, lawmakers who want to address gun control are moving cautiously.

Assemblyman Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, is the incoming chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. A family law attorney, he has been a public defender and a prosecutor. He also is a gun owner who wasn't ready to take a position on whether Nevada should limit assault weapons.

"I'm open to having the conversation, and I want to make sure we hear from all sides of the table," Frierson said. "If I had the answer to how to solve this problem, I certainly would have promised it two years ago."

During the 2011 session, Frierson was among Democrats who opposed a bill to let university and college students and faculty carry concealed weapons on campus. Incoming freshman Assembly­woman Michele Fiore, R-Las Vegas, plans to reintroduce the bill this session, and it may get more support.

Two years ago, the campus carry bill passed the state Senate but died in the Assembly Judiciary Committee when then-Chairman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, didn't bring it up for a vote.

Horne, the incoming Assembly majority leader, said last week he didn't think there were enough votes to pass the campus carry bill out of his committee in 2011 and university and police officials opposed the measure. Also, students and teachers can carry guns with special permission from university authorities.

Horne, who said he owns a Glock pistol, has become a target of gun rights lawmakers and groups because of his willingness to discuss gun control - a term he doesn't like because it inflames gun owners.

In August, Horne wanted to discuss an assault weapons ban at a legislative meeting he chaired, but the panel voted 8-5 to take the item off the agenda after objecting to even addressing the issue. Horne said he merely wanted the Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice to hold a "strictly informational" session so lawmakers didn't have to start at "ground zero" when they met in February to consider legislation.

"We don't even have a definition of what an assault weapon is," Horne said last week. "That would be the first thing. We can't be afraid to have the conversation. I think it's incumbent upon law­makers to understand whether the laws on the books are adequate to protect the people of Nevada."

Critics of the 1994 federal assault weapons ban say it was too easy to skirt, including by modifying the prohibited 18 models of semi-automatic weapons. The ban wouldn't have prevented the Connecticut or Carson City shootings. The main Bushmaster .223 rifle used by Lanza wasn't on the list of weapons banned in 1994 or by Connecticut, which has one of the strongest anti-gun laws in the nation. And the IHOP shooter had illegally modified his privately purchased Norinco Mak 90, a Chinese version of the Russian-made AK47.

State Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, a cattle rancher, said banning or limiting firearms is not the answer.

"We do not need to look at the tools. We need to look at the individuals with mental health problems and make sure they get the help they need," Settelmeyer said. "This is not in any way, shape or form an easy issue. It's a very complicated one. I don't even know how to approach it."

In the past two years, mental health funding has gone down in Nevada from $174.4 million in fiscal year 2011 to $162.8 million in fiscal year 2012, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

LAWMAKERS WILL TACKLE GUN RIGHTS

In recent years, most gun legislation in Nevada has focused on making it easier to own firearms.

Nevada's concealed weapons law passed in 1995, promoted by gun rights advocates who complained that some sheriffs in the state's 17 counties made it too difficult or costly to get permits. The counties still control issuing the five-year permits for a $25 fee, but must provide them to all applicants who qualify.

The concealed weapons law has been amended several times for gun owners.

During the 2011 session, the law was updated to let permit holders carry any semi-automatic handgun after qualifying to shoot with only one type. Proponents argued it was like learning to drive one kind of car, but being able to drive most others.

The law also was amended to protect the privacy of permit holders and eliminate the need for new background checks each time they buy another gun.

The 2011 gun bill also allowed concealed weapons to be carried in state parks by permit holders.

During the upcoming 2013 session, gun rights lawmakers have proposed more than half a dozen bills, including one that would eliminate the requirement for Nevada gun owners to get concealed weapons permits. If approved, anybody who passed a background check when buying a gun could secretly carry a firearm.

State Sen. Don Gustavson, R-Sparks, said he wants Nevada to be like Arizona, Alaska and Vermont, where concealed weapons permits aren't required because, he said, the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to bear arms. He introduced a similar bill last session .

"We have so many gun controls on the books now that we don't need any more," said Gustavson, who, like most gun rights proponents in the Legislature, said he doesn't see the need to limit assault-style weapons in Nevada or the number of bullets in clips .

"You have to have a total ability to fight back," Gustavson said, arguing that a criminal gunman may be using automatic weapons, too. "The problem is not the guns. The problem is the individual."

Carson City Sheriff Furlong said he doesn't think an assault weapons ban would have saved anybody at IHOP. He said families with mentally unstable members need to keep them away from guns and get them psychological help, something authorities can't do unless the troubled individuals get picked up or act out publicly.

"You may have the right to own guns, but you have somebody in your family who should not have access to guns," Furlong said. "Law enforcement could do a better job of tracking these people, too. We spend more money on trying to get me to stop smoking then to make sure people don't fall through the cracks."

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.