Nevada state parks gun rules challenged
A University of Idaho law student is challenging the constitutionality of Nevada's restrictions on the possession and discharge of firearms in state parks.
Al Baker filed a federal lawsuit this week in Reno that describes him as a firearms instructor and lifelong outdoorsman who regularly camps and hunts in Idaho and Nevada. He is represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which is based in Colorado, and Elko attorney Robert Salyer.
Baker filed the lawsuit against several state officials, including Allen Biaggi, director of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The agency's spokesman, Bob Conrad, declined to comment Friday.
According to the complaint, Baker submitted a special use permit application in April for a group campsite at the Wild Horse State Recreation Area in Elko. In the application, he "stated that he intended to possess a functional firearm in his tent for self-defense purposes while camping" at the recreation area.
The lawsuit claims the defendants deprived Baker of his constitutional right to keep and bear arms on June 1 when they threatened to enforce the state's firearms restrictions.
"By banning all functional firearms, Defendants currently maintain and actively enforce a set of laws, customs, practices, and policies under color of state law that deprive Mr. Baker of the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in violation of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution," the complaint alleges.
According to a news release on the Mountain States Legal Foundation's website, Nevada prohibits the possession of firearms in state parks, "with two narrow exceptions -- that is, an unloaded firearm inside a vehicle and a concealed handgun carried by a person licensed pursuant to Nevada law." Nevada also prohibits the discharge of firearms in state parks, "with no exception for self-defense," according to the news release.
Baker is licensed to carry a concealed handgun in Idaho, Oregon and Utah, according to his lawsuit.
