State looks into whether Assemblyman Brooks can buy rifle

RENO — State officials have initiated a routine background check to determine whether troubled Assemblyman Steven Brooks can buy a rifle from a Northern Nevada sporting goods store.

The Nevada Department of Public Safety’s Record and Technology Division hopes to determine by Tuesday whether there are any “disqualifying factors” that would prevent Brooks from buying the gun, said the agency’s chief, Patrick Conmay.

The Scheels store in Sparks contacted the agency to initiate the background check after the North Las Vegas Democrat tried to buy a firearm there Thursday, he said.

“What I want to make clear is that this background check isn’t unusual,” Conmay said. “It’s the Brady background check that would be done on anyone that would purchase a firearm. I want to make sure we’re thorough like in every case.”

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.

Brooks has not been convicted of any crime and has not been the subject of any court ruling about his mental health.

“As we would with anyone, it isn’t our place to say the law says this, but we think it would be better if we did it that way” in denying or approving a gun purchase. We’re going to do what the law says and follow that,” Conmay said.

Brooks didn’t respond to requests for comment.

His lawyer, Mitchell Posin, said Brooks shopped for a hunting rifle and other items for recreational purposes at Scheels. Brooks filled out paperwork for the background check, he said, but didn’t pay the fee to initiate the inspection.

“I think this was kind of a day wandering around the sporting goods store that was portrayed as something much bigger,” Posin said. “What we’re talking about are recreational, legal, unthreatening purchases. Someone came along and said he couldn’t buy a gun and now there’s a whole media circus around it.”

Asked whether Brooks is a gun enthusiast who enjoys hunting or target and skeet shooting, Posin replied, “I can’t answer to what his hobbies are.”

Brooks was 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.

On Feb. 10, he was arrested on suspicion of physically attacking his estranged wife in Las Vegas, then grabbing for an officer’s gun as he was taken into custody.

Brooks has denied any wrongdoing, and no charges have been filed against him yet.

Earlier this month, he began a three-week leave after the unprecedented creation of a bipartisan Assembly committee that will consider whether to expel him from the Legislature.

Brooks is temporarily living with others at a home in Sparks, the Reno suburb where he tried to buy the rifle, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said.

“The mere fact that this (attempted gun purchase) happened last night has a number of people legitimately concerned across the state,” Furlong said. “That causes a lot of agencies to relook at have you done everything you’re supposed to do.”

While law enforcement authorities are not conducting a 24-hour watch of him, they are monitoring his activities, Furlong added.

“We believe we have our arms around it now, and we are in a monitoring status,” he said.

Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas, who is chairing the special committee considering Brooks’ fate, said his colleague may be legally entitled to buy a gun, but he hopes he does not purchase one.

“I hope Mr. Brooks gets some help,” Horne said, adding he hopes the committee can reach a decision within two to three weeks.

Kirkpatrick and Scheels store manager Todd Anderson didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Furlong said later that his office received multiple calls from people who witnessed Brooks’ attempt to buy a gun.

“We are not watching him (24 hours a day),” he added. “But we do monitor him when we receive reports about his activities.”

He added “it’s a big assumption” to speculate that Brooks will be able to acquire a gun if ever applies to purchase one and his application goes through the required criminal repository background checks.

“All I know is he didn’t leave the store with a gun,” Furlong said. “It would stress me out if he gets one. Right now we have the upper hand.”

Rick Combs, the director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said since being told Thursday evening about Brooks’ attempt to buy a firearm, there has been “a heightened sense of awareness” among security in the Legislative Building.

“We are not doing anything that we weren’t already doing in regards to the security of the building, but it certainly has increased the level of concern,” he said.

“We have been in constant contact with state and local law enforcement agencies to do everything we can to ensure a safe working environment here at the Legislative Building and in Carson City in general.”

Review-Journal Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel and Associated Press writer Scott Sonner contributed to this report.