Brady Celebrates Passage of Bill Banning Ghost Guns By Nevada Assembly, Urges Nevada Senate to Follow Suit

Washington, D.C., April 21, 2021 - Following the passage of AB 286 in the Nevada Assembly, Brady urges the Nevada Senate to pass this important bill without delay. 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. These untraceable guns are an existential threat to public safety nationwide and have become weapons of choice for gun traffickers and criminals seeking to skirt existing gun safety laws at the state and federal level. 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, for championing this legislation and helping to ensure it’s passage in the Nevada Assembly. The Nevada Senate must now follow the Assembly’s example.

Brady Program Manager Steve Lindley, the former Chief of the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Firearms, shared:

“Ghost guns are an unprecedented and existential threat to public safety, undermining nearly all existing gun laws on the books today. Ghost gun parts and kits are easily acquired with no background check or other safeguards and are quickly assembled into a fully functioning firearm, meaning that prohibited purchasers like domestic abusers or gun traffickers can easily obtain a kit and build an untraceable firearm. Common-sense gun laws like background checks are broadly supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. We can all agree that individuals who have demonstrated that they should not possess a firearm should be prohibited from purchasing one. Assemblymember Jauregui builds on that fundamental consensus and will make Nevada a safer state for all. The Nevada Senate must pass this bill.”

The Brady Nevada State Executive Committee shared:

“Nevada has borne witness to the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history as well as gun violence in our homes and communities on a daily basis. We have had enough. Brady Nevada is grateful to Assemblymember Jauregui for standing up and championing this common-sense law that addresses a growing threat to our state’s and country’s safety. We urge the Nevada Senate to follow the wise example that the Assembly has set and to pass this bill without delay. Our state is tired of waking up to tragic and preventable instances of gun violence. There has been an outpouring of support from citizens and advocates across the state to ensure this bill becomes law.Our elected officials can do something to prevent this violence and we urge them to do so.”

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. 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, antique, 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. We have seen ghost guns used in crimes already, such as in New York, where six-year-old Miguel Everson was shot in the back by his uncle, who was a prohibited purchaser but obtained a ghost gun, and in the 2019 Saugus High School Shooting, where a minor used a .45 caliber pistol that was assembled from a kit.

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.

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.