EDITORIAL: Holstering progress

The alarmism that dominates opposition to firearm legislation trashes law-abiding gun owners out of necessity. Arguments must focus on the carnage of lawbreakers to advance the gun control agenda and prevent the expansion of gun rights.

As a result, two gun bills before the Nevada Legislature that address trained, law-abiding handgun owners have become controversial. They shouldn’t be.

Assembly Bill 148 would allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring their weapons onto college campuses. The bill has outraged college officials, professors and some students who claim they’re terrified by the idea of someone carrying a handgun around them. But if AB148 passes, they won’t see those guns because they’ll be concealed. And the very people frightened about the prospect of being near a concealed weapon don’t realize they’ve already been around permit holders countless times at all kinds of places. They didn’t realize it because they couldn’t see the gun.

And Assembly Bill 167 would allow concealed-carry permit holders to become foster parents. Nevada desperately needs more quality foster homes, and the absurd restrictions on gun owners who wish to become foster parents — their weapons must be rendered essentially unusable — discourage all kinds of law-abiding families from joining the system, from veterans to law enforcement officers.

The Senate should recognize that law-abiding gun owners aren’t the problem. The Senate should pass AB148 and AB167.