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Who Shot Campus
Carry?
A Muth’s Truths
Investigation – Part I
By Chuck Muth
May 23, 2015
Used car salesmen don’t lie as much.
Folks, even if gun rights isn’t one of your big issues, the
following long, sad, sordid story is worth a read if for no other reason than
the understanding you’ll gain from discovering how your Nevada Legislature REALLY
works – or doesn’t, as the case may be.
Unlike most of today McNews stories in the mainstream press,
this one is long and detailed…so if the gun issue and the “inside” legislative
process is of no interest to you, stop reading right now.
For the rest of you,
onward…
The issue is “campus carry.”
Campus carry simply means that people lawfully licensed
(CCW) to carry a concealed handgun with them would be allowed to exercise that
right on college and university campuses in Nevada, where they are presently
prohibited.
The man who raped her went on to rape at least two other
women and murdered one of them. He now
sits on death row.
And here’s the most important thing everyone needs to understand,
especially anti-gun liberals wearing rose-colored glasses…
Rapists, murderers and thieves don’t give a damn about
any law that says they can’t bring a weapon on campus.
They’re criminals; often animals. Breaking laws is in their nature.
Indeed, the ONLY people this asinine campus carry prohibition
disarms are innocent, law-abiding Nevada citizens.
THE FIGHT BEGINS
Back in the 2011 legislative session, Collins’ sacrificed
her anonymity and came forward to tell her story and advocate for changing
Nevada’s law so that the right of self-defense wasn’t checked at the campus
door.
The bill passed with bi-partisan support in the Senate. But was killed by Democrats, who had the majority,
in the Assembly
A campus carry bill was re-introduced by conservative
Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (R-Las
Vegas) in the 2013 legislative session.
It, too, was killed by Democrats who had the majority in the
Assembly.
Fiore re-introduced the bill this year (AB148) – after
Republicans won a historic majority in both houses of the Legislature, as well
as the governor’s office, last November.
So passing this important gun rights bill in this new
political environment should have been a no fuss/no muss/no-brainer.
And indeed, with 19 co-sponsors it easily passed in the
Assembly in April by a vote of 24-15.
The bill then moved over to the Senate – the same Senate
that approved the bill back in 2011 with bipartisan support, only with a few
new members.
And if you count up the number of senators from both parties
who voted for the bill and/or co-sponsored the bill while they were in the
Assembly in 2011, you have more than the 11 votes necessary to pass it.
Again, this should have been a no-brainer.
But remember…
Republicans never blow an opportunity to blow an opportunity!
THE BROWER ROAD-BLOCK
For some reason, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Greg Brower (R-Reno), who voted for the
campus carry bill in 2011, decided he was going to do to this year’s Amanda’s
Law what Assembly Democrats did to it in 2011 and 2013.
He refused to bring the bill up for a hearing or a vote in
his committee.
And his boss, Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson (R-Las Vegas), who also voted for the campus carry
bill in 2011, refused to pressure Brower to bring the bill up for a vote.
The stated reason – not the real reason – was that AB148 supposedly
didn’t have the votes to pass.
Let me repeat, because this will become VERY
important later…
The stated reason…
By both Brower and Roberson…
Stated over and over and over and over again…
Was that there weren’t enough votes for AB148 to pass in the
Senate.
THE GAMES BEGIN
If true, it was ONLY because someone who supported
campus carry in the past had flip-flopped on the issue and was now opposed.
And a recorded vote would expose who they were – with the
main one, some suspect, being Brower himself.
It was also reported that two or more Republicans in the
Senate opposed campus carry and begged Brower to protect them from having to
cast a public vote on the issue, which absolutely would be used against them by
gun rights voters in their next election.
A third suspected reason is that Gov. Brian Sandoval does NOT support campus carry and does NOT
want a campus carry bill to hit his desk where he’d have to veto it. So Brower is just covering up and protecting
the governor.
And then there’s a fourth reason some suspect was behind
Brower refusing to bring the bill up…
It’s sponsor.
You see, Brower is a liberal Republican, a prickly
Republican, and a weenie. His
philosophical compass always points left.
Fiore, on the other hand, is a conservative boat-rocker with,
as she says, brass ovaries.
She doesn’t just vote “right.” She leads the conservative charge. She’s at the tip of the spear. And doesn’t exactly observe all the “niceties”
of being a legislator.
Indeed, if she ever uses phrases such as “my distinguished
colleague,” it’s often dripping with sarcasm and disdain.
Instead she calls them out and says things to her squishy
GOP colleagues like, “Put on your big boy underpants and take a stand!”
As such, Brower – and others – can’t stand Fiore. They despise her.
And some – especially Assemblyman Chris Edwards, a weanie’s weanie – have been voting against some of
her bills for no reason other than the fact that they’re her bills.
It’s called being “Fioreous.”
Whatever the real reason(s), AB148 died in the Senate when
Brower refused to give it a committee hearing and vote before the deadline for bills
to receive a committee vote two weeks ago.
But the Legislature is the living embodiment of the phrase, “It
ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
STOP, THIEF!
Veteran legislative watchdogs will remember the 2011
session, when then-Speaker John Oceguera (D-Las Vegas) – preparing for a
congressional race against Rep. Joe Heck
(R-Nevada) – literally “stole” a number of good gun-rights bills originally
sponsored by other legislators, rolled them into one “omnibus” bill…and took
credit for them.
Well, that’s the same thing Roberson – also said to be
mulling a congressional race next year – did this session.
He “stole” a number of good gun-rights bills from fellow
Republicans and rolled them into one omnibus bill…SB175.
And while all of the aspects of SB175 were good, one was
more equal than the others: “Pre-emption.”
As I understand it, gun owners living in one jurisdiction in
Clark County – let’s say Henderson - are not legally allowed to transport their
weapons into another jurisdiction in Clark County – let’s say Las Vegas – without
jumping through a lot of hoops and obtaining what is called a “blue card.”
And most gun owners don’t even know these requirements
exist.
If I have this wrong, somebody please clear it up for me and
I’ll correct the record here in a future issue of Muth’s Truths.
But here’s the point…
The restrictions imposed in some jurisdictions in Clark
County are different from those imposed by the State of Nevada.
What “pre-emption” means – and again, if I have this wrong,
somebody please correct me – is that Nevada state law will take precedence over
local ordinances when it comes to guns.
In other words, Henderson and Las Vegas will no longer be
allowed to impose separate gun registrations or impose restrictions that are in
conflict with Nevada state law. Nevada
state law will “pre-empt” and local gun laws.
Bear with me here, because this “pre-emption” issue is a BIG
part of this story, even though it might cause non-gun owners’ eyes to glaze
over.
Pre-emption was one of the gun-rights bills that Roberson
took and included in SB175, his omnibus gun bill.
So for political reasons, Roberson was deeply invested in
passage of SB175 – which easily cleared the Senate back in March by a vote of
14-5, and then moved over to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, chaired by
Assemblyman Ira Hansen.
Pause.
OK, I have to take my daughter Jenna out to the animal
rescue ranch where she volunteers on Saturday mornings, and then go watch my
son CJ’s basketball game (and yes, living up to the stereotype, my little white
boy can’t jump).
So I’ll have to continue Part II of “Who Shot Campus Carry?”
later.
Stay tuned, Batfans…
You can read this column online, as well as access archives
of past Muth's Truths columns by clicking here... www.MuthsTruths.com
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