“A ban on the sale or possession of untraceable weapons heads a list of laws passed last session that take effect with the new year.
Part of the weapons law, passed as Assembly Bill 286 in the spring, was struck down earlier in December by a Lyon County District Court judge.
As enacted, the law sought to ban firearms that lack serial numbers, including those sold in unassembled kits or made with 3D printers, with exceptions for antiques or inoperable guns. The judge nullified the section of the law covering gun kits, citing vague language that effectively made the law unenforceable. The state is expected to appeal.
Two other significant new laws deal with elections. One (AB-126) replaces the state’s presidential caucuses with primaries and attempts to put Nevada at the head of the primary calendar, ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Gaining first-in-the-nation status is subject to negotiation and discussion with national parties and other states in advance of the next presidential election in 2024.”
As AB 126 was moving through the Democratic-controlled legislature, Senator Harry Reid, father of the Nevada Democratic caucus, pushed for Nevada to host the first nationwide presidential primary, telling KSNV:
“We should be, because it’s damn sure not gonna be New Hampshire that’s representative of the country, and there’s Iowa,” he said.
Reid’s case, in a nutshell, has always been that the Silver State looks more like a changing America, unlike New Hampshire, which in the last available U.S. Census figures is 93% white, or Iowa, which is 91% white.”
Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Clark County, is one of the bill’s main sponsors and echoed Reid’s sentiments:
“This is not a selfish motive in putting Nevada first. We believe that Nevada better represents where the country is going and better represents the voices of a diverse constituency,” says Frierson.”
The RJ also reports;
“The second election bill [AB 321] makes mail-in voting permanent, among other changes instituted amid the pandemic in 2020 to ease and improve ballot access.”
The primary sponsors of AB 321 were Theresa Benitez-Thompson (D, AD-27) and Jason Frierson (D- AD-8):
Taking down barriers to voting, increasing access to secure and fair elections.. Oh yea AB126 & AB321. Thank you @JasonFrierson
— Benitez-Thompson (@Assemblywoman27) May 25, 2021
The RJ lists 12 other laws that went into effect on January 1, 2022:
■ Senate Bill 114 allows manufacturers and food establishments to produce and sell foods and beverages that contain hemp products. Some sections took effect earlier.
■ Senate Bill 237 adds LGBTQ-owned small businesses to the list of those eligible for various forms of additional assistance, incentives and protection from discrimination.
■ Assembly Bill 42 provides for jury trials in misdemeanor domestic violence cases where weapons possession is at stake. It came in answer to a 2019 state Supreme Court decision.
■ Assembly Bill 254 allows college athletes to earn money from endorsements.
■ Assembly Bill 121 allows disabled voters to vote and register using electronic systems the way overseas and military voters currently do.
■ Assembly Bill 196 requires lactation rooms in courthouses, with some exceptions.
■ Assembly Bill 287 provides for the licensing of freestanding birthing centers.
■ Senate Bill 190 authorizes pharmacists to dispense hormonal birth control to women without a required doctor’s visit.
■ Senate Bill 251 requires primary care providers to check if women should be screened for the BRCA gene mutation that causes breast cancer.
■ Assembly Bill 358 changes Medicaid rules for prison inmates, suspending rather than terminating their eligibility while incarcerated and reinstating it as soon as possible after release.
■ Assembly Bill 118 expands the use of child restraints in vehicles, removing certain age-based weight requirements and adding height requirements, among other changes.”
Democratic Assemblywoman Sarah Peters (AD-24)
The following bills signed by Governor Sisolak were touted as improving women’s health and protecting women from “period poverty”.
Assembly Bill 196 – Sponsored by Assemblywoman Benitez-Thompson and presented with Lt. Governor Kate Marshall and Jennifer Richards, a disability rights attorney, requires each courthouse to contain a lactation room that may be used by members of the public to express breast milk — separate from a bathroom.
Assembly Bill 224: Sponsored by Assemblywoman Bea Duran, requires middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools to provide feminine hygiene products in school bathrooms at no cost to the students. An evaluation related to how accessible these products are will be included in a school’s annual accountability reports.
Senate Bill 190: Sponsored by Senator Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, this will allow women to receive birth control through a pharmacy and bypass a doctors prescription.
One bill that was not mentioned by the RJ directly impacts biological women. Assembly Bill 280 (AB-280) now makes it illegal for public single-stall restrooms not to be gender-inclusive. If business owners don’t comply, they could be charged with a misdemeanor. Assemblywoman Sarah Peters, who identifies as a pansexual, sponsored AB-280.
Megan Barth is the founding editor of The Nevada Globe. She has written for The Hill, The Washington Times, The Daily Wire, American Thinker, Canada Free Press and The Daily Caller and has appeared frequently on, among others, Headline News CNN, NewsMax TV and One America News Network. When she isn't editing, writing, or talking, you can find her hiking and relaxing in The Sierras.
December 3, 2021
October 31, 2021