RED FLAG GUN LAWSUIT FILED IN NEVADA

Dec. 12, 2019

Rob Lauer Political Reporter

Carson City Nevada, With only weeks away from the official start date of Nevada’s new Red flag law, public policy group Nevadans Can filed a lawsuit challenging the law in court. The lawsuit was filed by a highly respected attorney, the former President of the Nevada Bar, Alan L​EFEBVRE. The lawsuit seeks “INJUNCTIVE RELIEF​ [Barring Enforcement of the Red Flag Component of AB 291”.

The new Red Flag law, also known as SB 291, is actually a Restraining Order. The Red Flag law passed in the 2019 Nevada legislature and goes into effect on January 1, 2019, allowing anyone to file a Red Flag Restraining order against anyone else without a hearing, without expert witnesses, without medical or psychiatric experts and based solely on hearsay. The judge then determines whether to issue a Temporary 7 day Red Flag Restraining order against the target. Then the police are ordered to remove firearms from the person’s home with a knock or no knock warrant. Given that the complaint requires the person is too dangerous to possess firearms to qualify, the police would have to use their swat teams to seize the firearms.

After all that is done, then the target of the Red Flag law has only 7 days to respond in court at a hearing to determine if they should be given their rights back. They are not entitled to a government paid lawyer nor are they afforded a jury trial nor is any criminal conviction required. But just couple of months ago, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Andersen v. Eighth Judicial Dist.Court in & for Cty. of Clark, that a jury trial is required to strip someone of their gun rights.

Nevada lawmakers passed a new state law in 2015 banning gun ownership by people convicted of domestic violence in misdemeanor cases. Misdemeanor charges are only handled with Judge Trials not a jury trial. In the unanimous ruling in the Anderson case, justices said a conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence can no longer be considered a petty offense. The court called “limiting state and U.S. Constitutional rights to own a gun is a serious penalty that only a jury should decide”.  Michael Pariente, the attorney who won the ruling on behalf of Christopher Anderson, believes his case will have a direct impact on the Red Flag law leading to its demise.

Mary Rooney, former NV Assembly Candidate and Julie Hereford are listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Several County Sheriffs are also considering joining the lawsuit after they pledged not to enforce unconstitutional gun laws in an open letter earlier this year.

The case was filed in Carson City Nevada and is awaiting a hearing date on the restraining order.

Read the lawsuit complaint here: https://nevadanscan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Red-Flag-Law-Injunction-Complaint.docx.pdf