Brooks barred from owning gun for one year

CARSON CITY — Assemblyman Steven Brooks will have to wait one year to buy a gun in Nevada from a licensed gun dealer because of information identified in a background check, the state Department of Public Safety said Monday.

Gail Powell, public information officer for the agency, said the reason for the denial cannot be disclosed.

The one-year denial dates from Monday.

But Patrick Conmay, chief of the agency’s Record and Technology Division, said there is no prohibition on Brooks buying a gun from a private seller through a classified ad or other such arrangement. Such sales do not require background checks, he said.

The checks apply to licensed gun dealears only, and any seller in Nevada would perform the same background check if Brooks again attempted to purchase a firearm, Conmay said.

State officials started a routine background check to determine whether the troubled lawmaker could buy a rifle from a Northern Nevada sporting goods store.

The Associated Press reported Friday that the Scheels store in Sparks contacted the agency to start the background check after the North Las Vegas Democrat tried to buy a firearm there on Thursday.

Disqualifying factors for gun purchases include convictions for felony, misdemeanor domestic violence and certain drug-related crimes. Another disqualifying factor is a court finding concerning a buyer’s mental health.

A temporary restraining order, if it specifies such a prohibition, could be cause to disqualify an individual from a gun purchase.

Brooks, D-North Las Vegas, has not been convicted of any crime and has not been the subject of any court ruling about his mental health.

But, he has been banished from the Legislative Building after two recent arrests, including one on Jan. 19 involving allegations he threatened Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, over his committee assignments. According to police, he had a gun in his car and dozens of rounds of ammunition.

Days after posting bail, he was detained and hospitalized for a mental evaluation after a disturbance at his grandmother’s house involving a sword.