Brady Celebrates Historic Passage of Ban on Ghost Guns in Nevada Senate

Washington, D.C., May 21, 2021 - Today, Brady applauds the Nevada Legislature following the passage of AB 286 in the Nevada Senate. Today’s passage is a historic day for Nevada and a victory for common-sense public safety laws. AB 286 would ban and prevent the further proliferation of ghost guns - firearms constructed from unfinished and unserialized frames and receivers that are often sold in kits that can be assembled into fully functioning firearms.

Brady President Kris Brown shared:

"Nevada will become the latest state to ban untraceable ghost guns, stopping their proliferation across the state. This bill will be one of the strongest ghost gun bans in the country and will regulate these weapons for what they actually are: firearms. The Nevada Legislature has properly acted to ensure that unfinished frames and receivers are serialized and therefore traceable, helping to ensure that these weapons do not fall into the hands of those who should not have them and that law enforcement can quickly and effectively determine their origin. Brady thanks Battle Born Progress and Assemblywoman Jauregui, herself a survivor of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music festival in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, for championing this legislation.

The Brady Nevada State Executive Committee shared:

“As Nevadans, we have seen too much gun violence in our state and demanded that our elected officials act. Today, the Legislature has come through for us. Ghost guns represent a new and frightening avenue for weapons to proliferate in our communities and to threaten our families. Today’s vote is a historic day for Nevada. Brady Nevada is grateful to Assemblymember Jauregui for championing this common-sense bill and to our partners at Battle Born Progress for loudly and clearly advocating for our legislature to make it law.”

Team ENOUGH Executive Councilmember Stephan Abrams shared:

“Young people in this country have continued to demand common-sense solutions to gun violence. Today, the Nevada Legislature has delivered such a solution. This bill will keep Nevadans safe, ensuring that untraceable ghost guns do not proliferate and threaten communities and law enforcement across the state.”

About AB 286:

AB 286 would prohibit an individual from possessing, selling, transferring, or purchasing an unfinished frame or receiver, which can be easily assembled into a ghost gun. The bill would likewise ban the possession of existing ghost guns beginning in January 2022. This bill includes common-sense carve outs such as an exception for firearms importers or manufacturers and for certain types of firearms including those rendered permanently inoperable, antiques or collector’s items, such as for hobbyists or collectors.

About Ghost Guns:

Ghost guns are unserialized and untraceable firearms that are often made from "ghost gun kits," that can be bought online, at gun shows or at gun stores and assembled at home. "Ghost gun kits," include all of the parts and often the equipment necessary to build these weapons at home. These kits are widely available and can be purchased by anyone, including prohibited purchasers, domestic abusers, and gun traffickers — without a background check. As these kits and guns are sold at gun shows and online every day throughout the country, they undermine all of the life-saving policies that state legislatures have fought so hard to put in place.

This is a growing concern, as:

• The ATF estimated that in just 2019, over 10,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement.

• The CA Bureau of Firearms seized 512 percent more ghost guns from persons identified through the Armed Prohibited Persons System database in 2019 than in 2018.

• In January 2020, the ATF’s Los Angeles Field Division reported that over 40 percent of its cases involved ghost guns.

• In San Francisco, the number of ghost guns seized by local law enforcement jumped 600 percent between 2017 and 2019

• In Onondaga County, in New York State the number of ghost guns recovered jumped 188 percent between 2018 and 2019 and in 2020, the county was again on track to break their record for recoveries - halfway through the year, more ghost guns had been recovered than in all of 2019.

Two states, Hawaii and New Jersey, and two cities, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., have already instituted bans on ghost guns or parts and kits used to assemble these weapons, and several other states including California, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have also passed laws regulating ghost guns. Both New York state and San Francisco are considering legislation surrounding ghost guns, and the parts and kits used to assemble ghost guns as well bans.

About Brady’s First-of-its-Kind Lawsuit, McFadyen v. Ghost Gunner Inc.:

Represented by Brady and the international law firm Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe the survivors and the families of the people killed in the 2017 mass shooting in Rancho Tehama, California, recently brought forward McFadyen v. GhostGunner Inc., the nation’s first two civil lawsuits by victims of gun violence against the ghost gun industry.

Plaintiffs allege in the complaint that the defendants have chosen to engage in a business that utilizes online loopholes that enable prohibited purchasers to acquire weapons without a Brady Background Check or any interaction with a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL). In doing so, Brady alleges that the defendants have chosen to intentionally undermine federal and state gun laws by designing, marketing, and selling ghost gun kits and firearms parts, which allowed the Rancho Tehama gunman, who was barred from purchasing or possessing a firearm, to obtain two AR-15-style ghost guns. During the gunman’s shooting spree in November 2017, he killed five people and injured 18 others at eight separate crime scenes, including an elementary school.