Gun rights group sues over Nevada ghost gun ban

A Delaware-based gun rights group is suing the state of Nevada over its ban on ghost guns that was recently enacted.

The group, called the Firearms Policy Coalition, filed a lawsuit in a Nevada federal court Thursday seeking to permanently enjoin the state from enforcing Assembly Bill 286, which Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed just three days earlier. 

Assembly Bill 286 prohibits a person from manufacturing, possessing, purchasing, transferring, transporting or selling unfinished frames or receivers that are not imprinted with a serial number. Violators of the provision could face misdemeanor or felony charges, depending on the offense.

The bill was sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui (D), who has committed to pushing gun reform in the state. According to The Associated Press, she survived the October 2017 mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas that left at least 59 people dead.

The coalition alleges that the bill is unconstitutional on the grounds that government “cannot narrow the channels for exercising the right to keep and bear arms by limiting one’s access to the essential instruments of that right to limited, government-approved manufacturers of firearms and firearm predecessor materials.”

The complaint further states that the ban “imposes a blanket prohibition against a broad class of protected arms in common use for self-defense and other lawful purposes by ordinary law-abiding citizens like the Plaintiffs.”

Sisolak is named as a defendant in the suit. Also named is Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) as well as officials with the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

Sisolak and Ford’s offices declined to comment due to pending litigation. The Hill has reached out to the Nevada Department of Public Safety for comment.

Ghost guns are a point of contention in the broader conversation around gun reform. The do-it-yourself kits are sold without background checks and lack serial numbers that law enforcement can use to track the weapons.

Last month, the Department of Justice unveiled a proposed rule seeking to expand the definition of a firearm to include weapons that can be assembled at home, which would force sellers to perform background checks on purchasers.