Background checks get push in polls

The move to approve universal background checks for gun purchases got a push last week when Mayors Against Illegal Guns released polls that showed overwhelming support in Nevada and 20 other states.

In Nevada, 86 percent of likely voters polled want every gun buyer to pass a criminal background check, according to the survey taken by Schoen LLC for the coalition of more than 850 U.S. mayors.

Now, background checks are required for people who buy guns through official dealers, but not privately. The mayors group estimates about 40 percent of gun transfers are done through private sellers.

That 86 percent approval in Nevada matched the average support among the 21 states polled, the group said.

The mayors group also released polling data from more than 40 congressional districts, seeking to raise the pressure on members of Congress to back universal background checks.

In the 3rd Congressional District, the poll found 88 percent support for broader background checks. U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., who represents the Southern Nevada district, recently came out in favor of the idea, saying law-abiding gun owners shouldn’t object to universal background checks.

Despite favorable public opinion, reports last week suggested getting universal background check legislation through Congress might be tough. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he is moving ahead with a bill, although it doesn’t appear it will be part of a bipartisan deal he had hoped to achieve. Republicans apparently are objecting to a requirement for sellers and gun dealers to keep records from the background checks.

In the Nevada Legislature, several bills are floating around with proposed universal background checks, something that might have a tough time passing in such a strong gun-rights state. Stay tuned.

The statewide Schoen LLC poll of 800 voters was conducted Feb. 10 through Feb. 14. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The 3rd Congressional District poll of 400 voters was conducted Feb. 10-13. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

— Laura Myers

SANDOVAL BOOSTS HISPANIC REACH

Brian Sandoval may be Nevada’s first Hispanic governor, but he didn’t get the job by being Latinos’ first choice.

In 2010, Sandoval won 33 percent of the Hispanic vote in his otherwise successful gubernatorial race compared to 64 percent for his Democratic opponent, Rory Reid, according to exit polls.

Sandoval trounced Reid overall, beating him 53.4 percent to 41.6 percent of the vote. That’s largely because Sandoval won about two-thirds of the white vote compared to one-third for Reid.

Now that Sandoval is running for re-election in 2014, he’ll need to boost his support from Hispanics in case he faces a tougher opponent. No big name foes have declared yet, but Sandoval could face a real contest if Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto runs. The Democratic Latina would likely do very well among Hispanics.

Any other potential Democratic opponents also would have an edge among the state’s Latino population, which is now about 27 percent of Nevada, because Hispanics here have long leaned Democratic.

All of that may explain why Sandoval’s campaign just hired a bilingual former news producer and reporter for Univision. Arlene Rivera will be director of online communications and Hispanic media.

“Arlene brings a wealth of experience and valuable insight to the campaign and I’m excited to have her on the team,” Sandoval said in a statement Wednesday in announcing the hire.

Rivera also used to be a news producer for NBC News 3, KSNV-TV, and has done freelance work for major networks.

According to her résumé, she produced Univision’s 2008 interview with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, then both U.S. senators competing for the Democratic presidential nomination.

— Laura Myers

SHOPPING FOR A TAX

There is nothing wish-washy about Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas. While other legislators hesitate admitting they back tax increases, Pierce readily says tax increases are necessary and Nevada businesses historically have been grossly undertaxed.

So it was no surprise she bluntly criticized Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Brian McAnallen on Tuesday during a hearing on the Nevada State Education Association’s proposed 2 percent business margins tax, one that could raise $800 million a year for education. McAnallen said the tax would hurt businesses dramatically.

“You didn’t like the gross receipts tax in 2003,” Pierce responded. “You don’t like this tax either. You don’t like any tax that affects yourselves. Come election night in 2014 you are all going to look like Karl Rove. On Jan. 15, 2015, (with voter approval) this tax becomes law and you have no one to blame but yourselves.”

Rove, who spent part of his childhood in Sparks, was the one-time aide to President George W. Bush. Rove could not believe it when Fox News on election night picked President Barack Obama as the winner over Republican Mitt Romney.

McAnallen sat down quietly, but then pointed out he wasn’t around in 2003 and that he previously spoke with Pierce about the problems with the business margins tax when he saw her while shopping at a Trader Joe’s.

Assembly Taxation Chairwoman Irene Bustamante Adams, D-Las Vegas, told McAnallen that Pierce wasn’t specifically referring to him, but everyone who opposes tax increases.

“Remind me not to shop at that Trader Joe’s,” quipped Trey Abney, the lobbyist for the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce.

— Ed Vogel

ROLL ’EM AND SMOKE ’EM

In their effort to learn all they can about marijuana, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will travel to Phoenix on Friday to visit an Arizona medical marijuana dispensary.

Like Nevada, Arizona has a medical marijuana law and is trying to figure out the best way to distribute legal pot to approved patients. Nevada’s medical marijuana constitutional amendment was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1998 and 2000 and went into effect with passage of a law in 2001. But last year District Judge Donald Mosley ruled the law violated the state constitution because it offered no viable way for patients actually to acquire marijuana.

Nevada has a grow-your-own law that allows the more than 3,000 legal users to grow as many as seven plants and have no more than 1 ounce of usable marijuana at any time. But acquiring seeds is illegal and Las Vegas’ climate can be harsh for marijuana farmers.

Almost every day, it seems, members of the committee crack jokes about marijuana.

On Thursday during a meeting on a bill to fine juveniles who use cigarettes, state Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, joked to Chairman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, that back in his youth cigarettes probably didn’t have filters and Segerblom must have “rolled your own.”

Segerblom, 64, responded: “We rolled something different.”

— Ed Vogel

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter. Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.