AB 133, Police/Open Carrier Encounter Training Mandate

C. LVMPD

AB 133 on NELIS​

This bill is a direct response to the June 1, 2020, police killing of protestor Jorge Gomez, who was openly carrying during the riots in downtown Las Vegas in front of the federal courthouse. Police say Gomez was radicalized and may have tried to fire a shot. Police fired several less-lethal munitions at Gomez before shooting him. The exact details of the confrontation are disputed. The officers that night were not required to wear a body camera. 

The lead sponsor of the bill is Assemblyman Edgar Flores, not coincidentally the attorney for the family of the dead man. This June 12, 2020 article from the Nevada Current basically lays out why Flores is proposing what he's proposing. 

About the incident: Gomez did legally possess his weapons at the protest/riots, but what exactly he did is unclear. Nevada Carry is wary of long-gun open carry at rallies/protests and doubly so when things turn violent. Whatever Gomez may have done to get shot probably wasn't because he happened to be openly carrying. Whether police overreacted to an actual or perceived threat is up for discussion. 
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Bill analysis: On the surface, the bill would require police to active their body cams and be trained on interacting with persons who are openly carrying firearms. The language of the act leaves it suggests this would only apply in the case of actual enforcement or investigation, and not a casual or friendly encounter. 

 In the late 2000s, open carrier Tim Farrell was stopped by Metro without probable cause for openly carrying, which led to reforms and education within Southern Nevada law enforcement regarding open carry. Since then, police/open carrier interactions in Nevada have been overwhelmingly unremarkable. 

Bottom line: watch, but could be a good bill. It's a bit of an overreaction by someone who has a conflict of interest, but increasing police oversight around armed citizens exercising their rights can't be bad. What could be bad is the kind of anti-open carry amendments that might be tacked on.