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2/12/2025 12:01:54 AM
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Democratic lawmakers hammer Lombardo over ghost weapon undercount


Democratic lawmakers hammer Lombardo over ghost weapon undercount

More than a year before he was elected governor, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told a group of pro-gun voters that over the previous 12 months, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Cops Department had come across just six ghost weapons.

"It's not a huge issue," he said at the time.

However according to an examination of police records by KUNR and APM Reports, officers had recovered at least 252 of the guns, which are frequently offered in sets without identification numbers, at the time Lombardo made those remarks. At the time, Lombardo was still acting as the department's sheriff.

Reacting to Lombardo's unreliable claim, Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D-Las Vegas) didn't mince words.

"He selected the gun lobby over the security of Nevadans. He chose the gun lobby over Nevada lives," she stated in an interview with KUNR.

Jauregui, a Democrat, has actually sponsored 2 ghost weapon bans in the Legislature. Lawmakers authorized both, however the very first was overturned in court. In 2015, after Lombardo was elected governor, he banned the second ban.

Democrats need simply another vote in the state Senate to reverse Lombardo's ghost weapon veto.

Sen. Melanie Scheible (D-Las Vegas), who cosponsored one of the ghost gun restrictions, said if her celebration were to win a supermajority in the Senate in this year's election, it would enable them to deal with weapon violence.

"The examination only reaffirmed for me the need to take action in the next legislative session to avoid more unnecessary gun violence and gun deaths," she stated.

Scheible, who worked as a prosecutor in Las Vegas until 2022, stated the threat presented by ghost guns is well understood in her field.

"When I talk to other lawyers about gun cases, there is a typical understanding and expectation that when minors are committing acts of violence-- or any forbidden acts with a firearm-- that gun is going to be a ghost gun," she stated.

Jauregui said she's ready to attempt a ghost weapon ban again.

"My work around gun violence avoidance isn't done, due to the fact that I know firsthand what it's like to experience gun violence," she said.

Jauregui is a survivor of the Route 91 Harvest shooting in October 2017-- the deadliest such attack in modern-day U.S. history. She said that experience inspires her to pursue weapon violence reforms.

Jauregui said she would like to introduce the ghost weapon ban before the 2025 session, however the legislative schedule makes that difficult.

Neither Lombardo nor several Republican lawmakers reacted to talk to requests for this story.

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Elwood Hill
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Elwood Hill

Elwood Hill is an award-winning journalist with more than 18 years' of experience in the industry. Throughout his career, John has worked on a variety of different stories and assignments including national politics, local sports, and international business news. Elwood graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and immediately began working for Breaking Now News as lead journalist.

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