Dayton, Nevada's own Polymer80, your favorite 80% handgun lower company, won an injunction today, July 20, against AB 286. AB 286 essentially bans 80% lower receivers in Nevada and is so poorly written even old, unserialized guns are potentially illegal.

From Polymer80's blog post:

The injunction applies to Sections 3.5 and 6.9 of AB 286 (bill text). This is an injunction in state court.

Section 3.5 prohibits a person from selling, offering to sell or transferring an unfinished frame  or receiver. 

Section 6.9 reads: 9.“Unfinished frame or receiver” means a blank, a casting or a machined body that is intended to be turned into the frame or lower  receiver  of  a  firearm  with  additional machining  and  which has  been  formed  or  machined  to  the  point  at  which  most  of  the major  machining  operations  have  been  completed  to  turn  the blank, casting or machined body into a frame or lower receiver of a firearm even if the fire-control cavity  area  of the blank, casting or machined body is still completely solid and unmachined.

So right now it is legal in Nevada to buy 80% receivers until the injunction is reversed or the case is adjudicated. The criminalization of possession of 80% receivers you already own does not apply until 1/01/2022. 

A few weeks ago, the Nevada Firearms Coalition PAC interviewed Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. Many members, including myself, expressed concerns on how long it takes Las Vegas Metro Police to issue CCW permits in particular.
 
There are two major issues. The first is (and has been for a long time) that it takes most of the 120 day statutory time period to issue permits. That is, once you turn in your application, the sheriff has 120 days to approve or deny the permit. Metro and Washoe County are currently running at that limit.
 
Scheduling
 
The second and more recent issue is appointment time. Until 2020, all sheriff’s offices accepted walk-in appointments. This meant waiting for fingerprinting was like waiting in any other line. Remember that the 120 clock doesn’t start until you turn in your application. That will be important later.
 
In 2020, online/scheduled fingerprint appointment times were introduced. Metro briefly went to a deeply unpopular online only application system for the fingerprint and application appointment. In his call with the PAC, Lombardo announced that he had reinstated the ability to apply in person at headquarters. Little public announcement was made of this.
 
The problem with these online/scheduled appointments is that appointment slots were booked up for months. Unprecedented demand didn’t help, but at least with in-person appointments, you could always wake up early and wait in line. Now the scheduling delays forced many people into a year’s artificial delay, on top of the 120 statutory limit. That means some people wouldn’t get a permit until 16 months (theoretically) after scheduling the appointment.
 
Due to a massive backlog induced by COVID and unrest, Washoe County Sheriff launched an initiative in March to reduce the year-long backlog just to apply for a permit. Clark County applications were reporting up to a 90 day wait just to apply, one quarter of the wait for Reno-area applicants. A five-six month wait was not uncommon even after the initiative.
 
So someone expressing interest in a CCW permit might have to wait several months just to apply for their permit, meaning if they applied and scheduled now, they might get a permit by New Year’s.
 
Staffing
 
Before, as well as during COVID, both new and renewal CCW applicants have been seeing processing times that have approached, or in many cases, exceeded the statutory 120 calendar day limit.  While it might be easy to fall back on an explanation of "short staffed" or "high volume", this is a service that is funded by the fees that are paid by the applicants.  More applicants equals more funding.
 
It may also be easy to fall back on a "backlog at DPS", since the process is dependent on them.  However, other counties in Nevada are reporting processing times as little as days or weeks, not months.  And certainly not over the statutory 120-day limit.
 
Lander County Sheriff says they are running 60 days, which is consistent with their turnaround pre-COVID. Humboldt County Sheriff says they are typically about 4-6 weeks out right now. Their clerk told me it’s usually about a week to get your appointment, and then the vast majority of the rest of the time is up to Department of Public Safety (DPS) in Carson City.
 
Humboldt is getting their applications processed by DPS in approximately four weeks, typically, which is consistent with pre-COVID issuance. The clerk said that whenever the local instructors graduate a class, their appointments might push out to eight days instead of five. After the political changes at the national level (the clerk’s wording), they are seeing like four or five times the number of applications. This is consistent with reports across the state and nation.
 
Elko County Sheriff Narvaiza replied to me himself and said they are at about two months. I specifically asked how the time breaks down, and Humboldt said it is almost all DPS in their county. The in-office time was just days on both ends. ​Once Humboldt County authorities get the blessing from DPS, the permits are printed and out the door within 48 hours.

Our understanding is that DPS runs the fingerprints through the FBI, for a criminal record check, and run the application through the NICS database, to confirm they are not a prohibited person disqualified from processing firearms. Lander County reported its two-month turn-around, again was mostly DPS. 60 days for DPS would be consistent with what Metro told us in 2016 (if one accounts for variations due to massive demand).
 
Sheriff Antinoro in Storey County (Virgina City) told me, as for wait times, virtually all of it is waiting on state or FBI returns. Local time consists of one to two days. “We were turning CCWs around in about 3-4 weeks pre-apocalypse. We got up to 6-8 weeks at the height of the pandemic. Now in the waning days, as of last week I'm told we're down to 4-6 weeks. That's all FBI/state delay.”
 
So assuming all of them are going through the same queue at DPS, that means that Metro’s CCW detail is taking three extra months above DPS time. The same would be the case, albeit on a smaller scale, in Washoe County.
 
Demand is a factor in any system with a bottleneck; ask us in Clark County about this. Permit issuance is greatest here because of the population size and tourism (duh). Naturally it takes longer, but “longer” has been 80-120 days on average since 2013. The appointment fiasco didn’t factor into that because until recently, it was first-come, first-served.
 
The only explanation for why it takes so long for Nevada to issue permits is staffing. At the state level, DPS doesn’t have the manpower to handle their end with this level of demand in a reasonable timeframe. Okay, we get it. Nevada is a small state.
 
However, with Washoe and for darn sure Clark County, the only answer is that the sheriffs do not want to devote the manpower and money for their CCW details to process permits faster. In times of great demand we might forgive the government slow processing due to a bottleneck, but especially in Metro’s case, this bottleneck has been going on for years.
 
Considering the above, how Sheriff Lombardo explain the current state of the CCW detail within Metro, and these long processing times? I have done the research.  I’ve contacted more than half of the county sheriffs in the state. I think every CCW holder in Nevada wants a straight answer to this question. 
 
As our esteemed editor said: “120 days is the deadline, not the goal.” Sheriff Lombardo has refused to make any meaningful changes to speed up processing. Increased demand should equal more staffing. A right delayed is a right denied (never mind the questionable constitutionality of requiring a permit in the first place). 

We've seen some questions lately whether CCW carry insurance is required in Nevada or not. It most definitely is not. In fact, we're unaware of any state requiring liability insurance to own or carry a firearm (although San Jose, CA, passed a controversial ordinance recently).

CCW insurance, carry insurance, or self-defense insurance (it goes by many names) is essentially membership or traditional insurance based coverage to assist with a legal defense or liability judgements in the event of a self-defense incident. Each policy is different; some are reimbursement only (you pay the defense costs and the policy reimburses you), some pay for a lawyer, others pay for both a lawyer and will pay any judgement against you.

This is optional coverage that is a great idea, but not mandatory. Few of us can afford an expensive legal defense and one should never talk to the police without an attorney present. A small monthly payment for one of these services makes sure there is an attorney on call should you be involved in a defensive gun use. A good lawyer, if you go to trial, can costs tens of thousands of dollars or more. 

On a political note, anti-gun hoplopaths and talk out of both sides of their mouths maligning it as "murder insurance" then say they want to require liability insurance for gun owners often blaming the "cost" of "gun crimes." Law abiding citizens aren't the ones causing society to pay a price for violence; these calls for insurance are just to make it as difficult as possible to legally own a gun
​

​Today, NVFAC published the contents of the gun safety flyer that Clark County School District will be circulating to parents.
 
All it basically says is “Playing with guns is dangerous. Please educate your children so they don’t do that or bring them to schools.”
 
The statement is a well-balanced one that probably should be a bit more strongly worded. It doesn’t tell people to lock up their guns or do anything unconstitutional, but to be responsible and educate their kids.

Given that too many kids have brought guns to school and the parents showed total recklessness in letting the kids have access, I don’t think
 
Let’s admit it: this isn’t aimed at gun owners who read this blog or any of the people getting pissed online. This is for the stupid people out there. Remember, common sense isn’t so common and if you are of average intelligence, half of the people in the world are dumber than you are.
 
So I’ve prepared a translation of how the letter should read: 

I see a lot of gun owners online freaking out and treating this like it's sex ed telling moron teenagers to use a condom. Well guess what, kids gotta learn safe...gun safety somewhere.

Now maybe we can work on teaching kids on how to safely shoot and the really basic Eddie Eagle stuff?

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo is running as Republican for governor, apparently under the theory that anyone is better than Sisolak. Well, only marginally so. Frankly, I think Lombardo has done a crappy job and is just a casino sheriff, which means he will be the casino's governor, not yours. 

I'm past the point of voting for people just because they aren't a Democrat. Lombardo might as well be a Democrat given his stance on guns (the issue we care about here). If we can get enough Republican senators to block any terrible bills in 2023, let's do that instead. 

Lombardo was invited to be a guest of the Nevada Firearms Coalition PAC to do a Q&A. Now, for reasons having to do with maintaining a political relationship, the questions were softened up. The hardballs that many of the members wanted to throw were blunted. I don't like it, but I understand why the lobbyist had to do it. 

Despite his vehement insistence that (banging on the table) "I support the Second Amendment!" it's clear he doesn't. Lombardo expressed support for banning private gun sales (universal background checks) and prioritizes officer safety over gun rights. He really couldn't give an example of gun control he doesn't support. Remember how he wanted to ban "high capacity" magazines?

And on top of all of this, he clearly doesn't care enough about citizen's being able to protect themselves to get CCWs out in a timely manner. Counting scheduling the fingerprint appointment, it's taking Metro beyond the statutory 120 days to issue CCWs (the sheriffs count from when you turn in your application and fingerprints, not when you schedule your appointment). 

He was not supported by the rank and file in his last election. He also decided to switch to an encrypted radio system (or at least turn it on) after October 1, presumably because people recorded what an S-show the response was. Though that is not his fault, covering up police radio traffic en masse like that against popular opinion is bad. We don't need an autocrat running the state. 

Does this guy really deserve your support as a governor? He would be Sisolak but from a different party. There are better people out there who would do a better job. Lombardo needs to retire.

Recently Nevada removed several states concealed weapons permits from the list of states it recognizes (effective 7/01/2021​). Is the plot of our tyrannical governor and attorney general?

This is due to changes in other states' processes. Nevada requires that a state's permit and process be similar to our own. The list is updated regularly as other states change their​ process. 

Per NRS 202.3689, this is checked every year before July 1:

These are the states Nevada no longer recognizes:

• Florida
• Ohio
• Mississippi Enhanced Permits 
• South Carolina
• South Dakota Enhanced Permits 
• Utah provisional permits (18-20)
• Virginia

Florida will no longer recognize Nevada's permit as we do not grant them reciprocity. This is the situation prior to 2015 with that state in particular.

2020 List and 2021 List

So the authorities report that the Sandy Valley Fire started from target shooting. Immediately denials begin on social media. Shooters just can't believe that target shooting in the desert could start a brush fire. It must be a government conspiracy!

Then several helpful individuals posted a study done by, you guessed it, THE GOVERNMENT. Well, those studies just couldn't be right. Of course THE FEDS would want to malign target shooters. Blaming them for starting fires. Everyone knows it's clearly impossible for target shooters to start fires!!! This blame game must be conspiracy to ban guns or stop shooting on public lands or something.

But it's not a government conspiracy. This stuff DOES happen. Target shooting does start fires. Just because you don't want to believe doesn't mean it's not true. The BLM and Forest Service didn't go to all that trouble just to fabricate a study to libel shooters. Oh wait, sorry, I forgot that NASA fabricated the moon landing.

Why would the government want to lie and claim shooters started the fire? What's their goal? To ban target shooting on private land? 

Look, if BLM or the Forest Service wants to ban public land shooting they can. Lovell Canyon was closed to just that because of trash shooters and fires. The Las Vegas Valley was closed to shooting because of urban sprawl. Vast swaths of California gets closed to shooting every summer because of fire restrictions. If they want to stop public land shooting, they will. The government doesn't need to lie about shooters starting fires to close land.

Just because you don't want to believe it doesn't mean it isn't true. Got it? Yes, it sucks that people start fire on our public lands that we like to shoot on. It is a natural response to deflect blame away from "one of us." But again, that doesn't mean that stray bullets hitting rocks, some dumbass with tracers, or someone smoking doesn't start fires.

Stop the cognitive dissonance. You look stupid saying it. Focus your energy on educating other shooters to exercise common sense. 

​Due to 2020 (everything that happened last year), Clark and Washoe Counties have been heavily impacted by concealed firearm permit (CCW) applications. Some citizens are reporting that they have a three month wait to get an appointment. While Nevada has a four-month deadline to approve or deny permit applications (NRS 202.366), that clock stops when the application and fingerprints are turned in. That means some people will be waiting seven months for to receive their permit.
 
You, as a prospective Nevada resident have a way around this. Non-residents can apply to any sheriff in the state; not just Las Vegas Metro and the Washoe County Sheriff. Counties that aren’t home to Vegas and Reno have less application volume and thus faster processing times.
 
So as a non-resident, take the required course from a certified instructor. Apply in a rural county. Nye County (Pahrump), Carson City, Douglas County, Story County (Virginia City), and Churchill County (Fallon) are going to be the most accessible counties for non-residents. This way, you will have your permit approved in weeks to a month or two.
 
When you actually move to Nevada, simply file a change of address with the sheriff who issued your permit. Your permit is still legal to carry on, even if you live in a different county than the permit was issued in. This is legal because you weren’t a Nevada resident when you got the permit and there is no penalty for not moving to the county that issued the permit.
 
So, if you apply in Nye County as a California resident, but move to Vegas (go away, we’re full), all you do is change your address with New County to your new home in Las Vegas. After five years, when your permit expires, you would then apply with the sheriff of the county you live in (Clark), which is Las Vegas Metro PD.
 
Remember that non-residents have a 60 day grace in which their out-of-state permit is considered valid in Nevada (NRS 202.3688). Your out-of-state permit must be on Nevada’s reciprocity list.
 
Unfortunately, the 120 day deadline to issue isn’t short enough (especially with the application/finger appointment delays) to coincide. Even so, it’s something important to keep in mind, especially if you are moving to a rural county with faster issuance times.
 
In either case, you can openly carry until your permit is issued; and after too. Open carry is legal in more places that concealed carry is. Open carry in Nevada requires no permit and is accepted even in urban Las Vegas. Be sure to use a retention holster and maintain situational awareness at all times.