Jack For Assembly

[JackNino]

The following are the questions and my responses to the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund 2008 Nevada Candidate Questionnaire.

The questionnaire was multiple choice and didn't really provide a whole lot of space for comments, but as usual I added my comments to the end of the questionnaire. For your convenience I have highlighed the answer I selected in red and also placed my comments right after each question, also highlighted in red.

I should probably also mention that I do not own any guns.
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1. Do you agree that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms?

a. Yes
b. No

I am a very strong believer in the 2nd amendment. I believe that the 2nd amendment was written because our founding fathers had just earned their freedom from an oppressive government and they wanted to make sure that the people of this country always had that ability. Based on that assumption, I believe that when the 2nd amendment was being written they very much intended for people to be able to keep their own arms.

I also believe strongly that law-abiding citizens should not be punished or made to feel like criminals because of the wrongdoing of a small percentage of the population. I believe that most gun control laws take this form. The vast majority of people who purchase and use firearms, regardless of their type or size, are good, law-abiding people. When these people have to submit to a background checks and fingerprinting in order to purchase a firearm, or they are prevented from buying a certain type of gun because someone decided that type of gun is "bad", or they must register all of their firearms, the average citizen is made to feel like a criminal for no reason, all while doing little or nothing to actually stop crime.

2. Violent crime is of great concern to the citizens of Nevada. Which of the following statements best represents your opinion on the prevention of violent crime?

a. Gun control laws will stop violent crime.
b. Gun control laws will not stop violent crime, but they must be part of the overall solution.
c. Gun control laws are misdirected; the solution is the enforcement of existing laws, that punish criminals who use firearms and other weapons in the commission of crimes.
d. Other: ________________________________________________

As stated above, I believe gun control laws punish law-abiding citizens while doing little to nothing to actually prevent crime.

3. Would you support any additional restrictive state legislation regulating firearms?

a. Yes, I support additional restrictive state firearm legislation. Specify: ________________________________________________
b. No, current state firearm laws are sufficient.
c. No, current state firearm laws should be reformed or repealed to benefit law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen in Nevada. Please specify: ________________________________________________

As I stated previously, I am uncomfortable with the government requiring registration of any firearms. Registering a firearm does not prevent a crime from being prevented. Registration lists can also easily be abused. They make a handy list of owners for the government when it decides that an owner's particular firearm is "bad" and should be outlawed. It also can be abused in less obvious ways, such as deciding that a collector has "too many" firearms and therefore the government should take some of them away.

I also think it is silly to require people who get a concealed weapons permit to get a permit for individual guns. If the person is qualified for a concealed weapons permit, then it should include any gun that they wish to carry.

4. Would you support state legislation banning the lawful manufacture, private possession, ownership, purchase, sale and/or transfer of any firearms?

a. Yes, for all firearms. Please specify type of restrictions: ________________________________________________
b. Yes, for all handguns. Please specify type of restrictions: ________________________________________________
c. Yes, for some firearms. Please specify types of firearms/restrictions: ________________________________________________
d. No, I oppose banning the lawful manufacture, private possession, ownership, purchase, sale and/or transfer of any firearm.

I am against blanket bans. The government likes to make laws as if everybody fits under some sort of one-size fits all umbrella, when in actuality every situation is different.

5. A doctrine in common law, known as the "Castle Doctrine," provides that a man's home is his castle, and that he may use any manner of force, including deadly force, to protect it and its inhabitants. Over the years, some courts have eroded this principle by ruling that there is a "duty to retreat" before meeting force with force. Would you support reforming Nevada's "Castle Doctrine" law so that: (1) a person would have the right to meet force with force to protect himself/herself and family members regardless of their location, (2) a "duty to retreat" would no longer exist in any place a person may lawfully be, and (3) a person justified in the use of force would be protected from criminal and civil liability?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________

I am for people being allowed to protect themselves. I would like to see people get trained in the proper use of their weapon to make sure that they aren't doing more harm than good should a situation occur in a public place.

6. Do you support the licensing* of individuals who own, possess, and use firearms?
* Licensing, as used here, refers to state legislation requiring firearm owners to obtain a license from a government official or agency to own and possess a firearm. As a rule, firearm owner licensing laws generally require fingerprinting, photographing, and/or a background investigation of the applicant.

a. Yes, for owners of all firearms.
b. Yes, for owners of all handguns.
c. Yes, for owners of some firearms. Please specify: ________________________________________________
d. No, I oppose state licensing of firearm owners.

While I understand the desire to prevent a convicted felon from acquiring a firearm, I do not see how fingerprinting and photographing someone who has done nothing wrong helps in this regard.

7. Federal law requires federally-licensed firearms dealers to keep records of the make, model, caliber, and serial number of all firearms sold. Would you support state legislation requiring firearm owners to register all their firearm(s) for entry into a centralized state file or computer system?

a. Yes, for all firearms.
b. Yes, for all handguns.
c. Yes, for some firearms. Please specify which firearms: ________________________________________________
d. No, I oppose state registration of firearms.

Large databases that are kept by the government tend to work very poorly and end up causing problems for innocent people, rather than catching criminals. A perfect example of such a list is the government's No Fly List. Average people get on the No Fly List without having any knowledge of how they got on it, with no good way to get themselves off and then are subject to needless hassle every time they try to travel on a plane. In the meantime, I'm not aware of any proof that any bad people have been foiled in their terrorist attempts because of the No Fly List. A great big list of registered firearms doesn't work any better as it will have a tendency to have bad information that gets worse as time goes on, either because data is misentered or isn't updated at some point in time and it will end up being quite unreliable.

8. When a rifle or handgun is fired, it leaves markings on the bullet and cartridge case. Some argue that since these markings can sometimes be used to identify a firearm used in a crime, all guns sold be test fired prior to sale and ballistically "fingerprinted" for entry into a law enforcement database. New York and Maryland have each spent millions of dollars creating ballistic "fingerprinting" databases, yet the systems have proven to be crime-solving failures. In March, 2008, the National Academy of Sciences released a report that concluded, "a national reference database of ballistic images should not be established" because, among other things, "[T]he validity of the fundamental assumptions of uniqueness and reproducibility of firearms-related toolmarks has not yet been fully established." Would you support legislation mandating the unproven ballistic "fingerprinting" of firearms before they could be sold in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation for all firearms.
b. Yes, I would support such legislation for all handguns.
c. No, I would oppose such legislation.
d. Other. Please explain: ________________________________________________

The fact that the data can't be relied upon immediately makes this question easy to answer, but I would probably be against firearm "fingerprinting" anyways because of the same problems I mentioned in the previous question.

9. In recent years, the term "assault weapon" has been inappropriately applied to semi-automatic firearms commonly used for hunting, target shooting, and protection. Semi-automatics fire only one shot each time the trigger is pulled. These firearms are not fully-automatic machine guns, which have been strictly regulated since 1934 by the National Firearms Act. In 1994, the federal Omnibus Crime Control Act imposed a 10-year ban on various semi-automatic firearms that resemble fully-automatic firearms, redefining them as "assault weapons." The law also prohibited the manufacture of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition for sale to private citizens. These federal provisions expired in 2004 and were not renewed by Congress. However, proponents of restrictive firearm laws are still advocating similar bans at the state level. Would you support state legislation restricting the private possession, ownership, purchase, sale and/or transfer of any semi-automatic firearms?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________
b. No, I would oppose such legislation.

As I mentioned above, I am against outright blanket bans.

10. Federal law requires all federally licensed firearms dealers to conduct background checks at gun shows for all firearm transactions. Under federal law, individuals who attend gun shows and are not "engaged in the business" of selling firearms are: (1) not required to be licensed; (2) not required to conduct records checks prior to transferring firearms; and (3) not permitted to access the records checks system used by licensed dealers. Would you support state legislation further restricting firearms sales by individuals at gun shows?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________
b. No, I would oppose such legislation.

The wording of this question confused me a little bit, but I believe what it is asking is if I believe that individual gun owners should be able to sell and trade their own guns without having to deal with government bureaucracy. I believe that people should have that right.

11. Many .50 caliber firearms are used in big game hunting and target competition, and the .50 caliber BMG cartridge has been used for nearly 100 years. Would you support legislation prohibiting the ownership and/or sale of any .50 caliber firearms or ammunition in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation.

Similar to the other questions, I am against outright bans on certain types of weapons.

12. Anti-gun groups are promoting legislation that would require ammunition manufacturers to serialize each cartridge of ammunition by imprinting a unique serial number on the case and the base of the bullet. The ammunition would then be registered to the purchaser at the time of sale and information about the purchaser would be maintained by the seller or forwarded to the state for entry into a state centralized database. The possession or sale of ammunition that does not include a serial number would be prohibited. Would you support legislation requiring ammunition manufacturers to serialize/encode ammunition before it could be sold in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation for all ammunition.
b. Yes, I would support such legislation for handgun ammunition.
c. No, I would oppose such legislation.

Much like the other questions, I don't believe that large government database work to prevent crime and I also think that they are prone to misuse and cause many more problems for law-abiding citizens than they do for criminals. One example I can think of in this situation is someone being hassled by the government for buying "too much" ammunition, when all he was doing was stocking up when it was on sale or preparing for a visit from his friends where they were all going to go to the shooting range.

13. Anti-gun groups are promoting legislation that would mandate firearm manufacturers incorporate unproven technology that would supposedly "microstamp" identifying information about the firearm on a cartridge upon firing. This information would include the make, model and serial number of the firearm. Since approximately 65 million handguns are already in circulation, such a mandate would require de facto registration of guns, even though either technology is easily defeated by defacing the gun with common household tools. Would you support legislation mandating "microstamping" in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation for all handguns.
b. Yes, I would support such legislation for all firearms.
c. No, I would oppose such legislation.

This is a great example of a feel-good law that creates a big layer of bureaucracy and hassle for law-abiding citizens but in the end does nothing to actually prevent crime.

14. Some states are considering legislation mandating all firearms sold be equipped with "user ID" or "personalized" technology, also known as "smart" guns. "Smart" guns are intended to prevent a firearm from being fired by someone other than the owner. However, "smart" gun technology is current not available and experts agree it may not be in production and safety tested for several years, if at all. Even law enforcement has expressed concerns about its reliability. Would you support legislation mandating only "smart" guns be sold in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation.

I am very much against mandating "smart" guns. Recently I went on a ride-along with a friend who is a sheriff. One of the first things he did when we started on patrol was explain what weapons were in his vehicle and how to release them should something occur that incapacitated him. With "smart" guns that wouldn't have been possible. The same problem would occur if I was at a friend's house and someone broke in and in fact, the same problem could occur with someone's own firearms if the "smart" technology malfunctioned or lost power.

15. In the United States, the number of privately owned firearms has risen by more than 4.5 million annually. Meanwhile, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, firearm accident deaths have been decreasing for years and have fallen to all time lows. This trend is due in part to an increasing use of NRA firearm safety training programs by tens of thousands of NRA Certified Instructors, schools, civic groups, and law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless, several states have recently considered legislation to mandate the placement of locking devices on firearms kept in the home, or even more restrictive storage standards. These devices greatly restrict access to firearms for self-defense purposes and potentially increase the risk of a firearm accident. Would you support legislation mandating the use of locking devices or other locking procedures for firearms stored in the home?

a. Yes.
b. No.
c. No, I would not support such legislation and would instead support a resolution encouraging Nevada public schools to adopt NRA's Eddie Eagle firearms safety program as part of its curriculum.

I believe that every person's situation is different and therefore people should be able to use the storage method that works best for them rather than what the government decides will work best for everyone.

16. Recently, some employers have extended their "gun-free" workplace rules to employees' private, locked vehicles in parking lots. Such policies effectively disarm law-abiding citizens, including concealed weapon license holders, from the time they leave their house in the morning, while running errands on their lunch break, to when they return home in the evening. Would you support "Worker Protection" legislation that would allow law-abiding citizens to keep lawfully transported firearms locked in their personal vehicles while parked on publicly-accessible, privately owned parking lots?

a. Yes, I would co-sponsor such legislation.
b. Yes, I would support such legislation.
c. No, I would oppose such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________

The reason I oppose this legislation is that I am very reluctant to tell private property owners what they should allow or not allow on their own land.

17. During the 2007 legislative session, the legislature passed a measure that extended the time period by which a resident of Clark County was required to register a handgun from twenty-four hours to sixty days. While this afforded some amount of relief to gun owners in and out of the county, it still left intact the sixty-year old mandatory registration ordinance. Would you support further amending the state firearms preemption law to remove the current Clark County handgun registration exemption in favor of no handgun registration, therefore eliminating the patchwork of firearms laws throughout Nevada?

a. Yes, I support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________

As mentioned before, I am against gun registration laws.

18. In 2007, the Nevada Legislature voted to simplify the concealed carry firearms permit process to allow for the instruction and qualification of a "revolver" to be sufficient on the permit. Would you support legislation that further simplifies the permit process by allowing a permit applicant to state on their permit that they have qualified with a "semi-automatic" firearm as well, rather than having to identify a specific identified firearm?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation.

I believe that concealed weapons permits should apply to any firearm that a valid permit holder chooses to carry. A permit holder should not have to get a permit for each individual gun.

19. Nevada state law prohibits concealed carry permit holders from carrying on college and university campuses. NRA believes a person with a permit to carry a concealed firearm should be able to carry that firearm concealed anywhere he or she has a legal right to be, except in certain "sterile" high-security locations. Assuming each classification of individuals listed below possessed a concealed handgun permit recognized by the state, who do you believe should legally be allowed to carry a concealed handgun on state college and university campuses?

a. Visitors, faculty, staff and some students. Please explain: ________________________________________________
b. Faculty, staff and students.
c. Visitors, faculty and staff.
d. Faculty and staff.
e. Each college or university should determine the policy for its campus.
f. No one should be allowed to carry a concealed handgun on state college and university campuses.

My knee jerk reaction was to say that I agree with the ban because it sounds good. However, something that sounds good is not a good reason for a law. As I've stated before the vast majority of the people who carry firearms are good, law-abiding citizens. Bans on firearms on university grounds only prevent those law-abiding citizens from carrying their firearms and should they happen to forget about the law when they visit a university, you've suddenly made a good person into a criminal. The real criminals are not going to stop carrying their guns, either. I am against any legislation that just serves to make criminals out of honest people.

20. Which of the following best describes your attitude toward hunting?

a. Hunting is a valuable tool for wildlife management, a positive use of natural resources, and an American tradition that teaches young people responsibility and respect for the outdoors.
b. Hunting should be made illegal.
c. Other. Please explain: ________________________________________________

It is very rare that I hear anything bad about hunters, and in fact, most of what I hear is that hunters are some of the most responsible gun owners. I have never heard any evidence of hunting causing any damage to the environment, except in the case of poachers and that is already illegal.

21. Nevada is one of forty-seven states that has some form of range protection to protect its long-established shooting ranges from being forced to close or curtail activities due to court actions or local noise standards imposed on them by a growing and shifting population. Do you support Nevada's range protection law?

a. Yes, I support Nevada's range protection law.
b. No, I oppose Nevada's range protection law and think it should be repealed.

I support this legislation because I am against legitimate pre-existing businesses being forced to close or otherwise modify their business because of new development.

22. Nevada has thousands of acres of public hunting lands that provide a valuable resource to Nevada hunters by providing them an affordable place to hunt, as well as to pass on our hunting heritage to future generations. In recent years, several states have protected public hunting lands with "No-Net-Loss" legislation. This legislation requires that if an area currently open to public hunting is closed to hunting, the same number of acres of public land must be opened to hunting elsewhere. In other words, it guarantees that there will never be fewer acres of public land open to public hunting than exists today. Would you support "No-Net-Loss" legislation in Nevada?

a. Yes, I would support such legislation.
b. No, I would oppose such legislation. Please explain: ________________________________________________

I would need more information in order to answer this question. I would be interested to know why lands that were previously open to hunting are being closed. In addition, requiring a land size for land size swap is a one-size fits all solution that may not be the best solution in all cases. In certain instances it could take a smaller or larger parcel of land to provide the same benefit that the newly closed area used to provide.

23. Nationwide, the number of hunters has been declining over the past several years. Research indicates that states with restrictive minimum hunting ages have the lowest hunter recruitment rates. Statutory minimum hunting ages prohibit parents from deciding when their children are mature enough to hunt. Contrary to the claims, eliminating minimum hunting ages does not jeopardize safety. The 30 states with no minimum age laws have a better collective safety record than the 20 states with such restrictions. This supports the contention that parents can be trusted to make the right decisions for their families. Would you support legislation lowering or eliminating minimum hunting ages?

a. Yes, I would support legislation reducing or eliminating the minimum hunting age.
b. No, I would oppose legislation reducing or eliminating the minimum hunting age.
c. Other. Please explain: ________________________________________________

Everything I have ever heard has indicated that children who grow up hunting have a great deal of respect for guns and are very safe when around them. The same does not hold true for children who aren't exposed to guns until much later in life.

24. Mentored hunting programs are being implemented across the nation to help promote our hunting heritage. Mentored hunting allows novice hunters to hunt prior to completing hunter education requirements if they hunt under the close supervision of a licensed adult hunter who meets hunter education requirements. This is the "try it before you buy it" concept. According to the National Safety Council, hunting is already one of the safest recreational activities and mentored hunting has proven to be the safest form of all hunting practices. Would you support a mentored hunting law to help promote our hunting heritage?

a. Yes, I would support implementing a mentored hunting law.
b. No, I oppose implementing a mentored hunting law.
c. Other. Please explain: ________________________________________________

As stated above, I believe that hunters are some of the safest gun owners.

25. A number of states have passed constitutional amendments recognizing their citizens' right to hunt and fish in an effort to protect these essential American traditions from relentless attacks by animal "rights" activists. Nevada's population is changing in a way that is threatening the future of the right to hunt and fish. In order to protect this important heritage from unreasonable regulations and prohibitions, would you support a meaningful constitutional amendment protecting the Right to Hunt and Fish in the future stating: "The citizens of this state have a right to hunt, fish, and harvest game, subject to reasonable regulations. Consistent with the public trust to conserve birds, fish, game and wildlife, traditional methods may be used to take non-threatened species traditionally pursued. Public hunting, fishing and trapping shall be the preferred means of managing and controlling non-threatened wildlife."

a. Yes, I would support a truly meaningful Right to Hunt and Fish amendment in Nevada.
b. No. Please explain: ________________________________________________

Should such an amendment appear on the ballot, I believe that I would vote for it.

26. Are you a member of the National Rifle Association, the Nevada State Rifle & Pistol Association or any other shooting/sportsmen's/gun rights organization?

a. Yes. Specify: ________________________________________________
b. No.

27. Have you ever run for or held elective office?

a. Yes. Please specify: ________________________________________________
b. No.

Please feel free to provide any additional comments or attach any pertinent position papers.