Tough Going for Bloomberg’s Nevada Gun Control Push

Ever make a $20 million mistake? For plutocrat Mike Bloomberg, that’s pocket change, but he spent that much last year to persuade a tiny majority of the Nevada electorate to approve a law that abolished private sales of firearms, requiring all such transaction to be done through a Federal Firearms License holder along with a background check.

Alas, his law ran into big problems: Nevada can’t actually enforce the bill.

No, this isn’t some sort of “sanctuary city” situation where the locals charged with enforcing the law simply choose to ignore it. It’s legally impossible for Bloomberg’s law to be enforced.

The Silver State, you see, agreed to serve as a “point of contact” state with the federal government some years ago. This means that the background checks on new firearms purchasers mandated by the U.S. Code are run by Nevada’s Department of Public Safety (DPS), not los federales.

The DPS, in turn, runs a check against both the federal database as well as own central repository, as opposed to checks run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) run by the FBI, which would only hit the federal info. The feds, needless to say, are pleased with this situation, because it means that they don’t have to do any work, and the background check is (in theory) more thorough because it includes both state and federal information.

When Bloomberg’s minions wrote his Nevada law, however, they specifically stated that the background checks for firearms transfers between private parties would be run through the FBI. In fact, the wording of the law forbade Nevada FFLs from using the DPS system to run the check.

Why? Well, it seems that there was some concern on the part of Bloomberg’s hirelings that this would impose an extra cost to gun buyers and taxpayers, and they were concerned that the bill wouldn’t pass if voters thought it would end up costing them money. Victor Joecks, writing in the Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes Elizabeth Becker, one of Mike’s flunkies:

“The reason it was written saying that NICS was going to do it, if we did it point of contact through the state, it would have added money to every one of those background checks,” said Elizabeth Becker, spokeswoman for the Nevada Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We did not want it to be a tax.”

Translated: Background checks wouldn’t have passed if voters knew there would be a cost.

Considering Bloomberg’s margin of victory was a mere 1%, she may have been right.

Firearms Salesman of the Year, 2008-2016.

Unfortunately for Mike, the Obama Administration’s FBI told Nevada to pound salt. In a letter dated December 14, 2016, the FBI told Nevada: “[T]he recent passage of the…legislation regarding background checks for private sales cannot dictate how federal resources are applied…. [T]hese background checks are the responsibility of the state of Nevada to be conducted as any other background check for firearms, through the Nevada DPS.”

After reviewing the FBI’s letter and consulting with counsel, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt announced:

[T]he FBI’s refusal to carry out the central function required by the Act effectuates an unconditional ban, at present, on all private firearm sales or transfers in Nevada. … The Nevada Supreme Court long ago adopted the doctrine that the law does not require impossible acts.

Bloomberg’s law is now stuck. It can’t be enforced, because the Fibbies won’t play ball. It can’t even be amended to be “fixed” by the legislature, because it was passed by a vote of the people, and Nevada’s constitution (art. 19 sec. 2) forbids legislators from making changes to such laws for three years. So Bloomberg got almost nothing for this act.

I say “almost” with a cautionary tone. His $20 million did get a law passed. The media certainly trumpeted it as a big win. People (and politicians, to the extent they aren’t people,) took notice. Mike’s playing a long game. Maybe in three years he’ll try to have the legislature “fix” his people’s mistakes. Maybe he’ll try another ballot initiative even sooner. Maybe he’ll even just…do nothing, count this as a win and move on to somewhere else.

The man is not dumb. He knows how to put himself in a win/win situation, he has a pile of money and he doesn’t really care what happens to the people on the ground who have to live with the consequences of the laws he wants to impose. And $20 million? A tiny drop in the bucket for a cause he desperately wants to promote.

Maybe it wasn’t a mistake…at least, not a big one. And not one he can’t recover from.

Mike also knows that half of a loaf gives one options. It’s a lesson that gun owners, sometimes prone to seeking heroic defeats rather than messy victories, should keep in mind, too.

[Hat tip: Sebastian @ Shall Not Be Questioned.]


  1. avatar Henry Bowman says:

    Also the fact it pasted by around 10,000 votes, mostly by illegals, voter fraud, double voting, and union busing of voters (mostly illegals) can not be ignored, this is what the left does, they win by a very thin margin and claim a landslide, when they lose in a real landslide “ITS THE RUSSIANS!”.

    Also we had a Voter Ballot issue to legalize weed here, so that really did draw out leftists who would have not shown up , even to vote for Clinton. Upside is they are now going to be able to get REALLY BAKED and hopefully not willing to go out an vote.

    That would be a great way to win future elections, j end early voting and ust give all Democrats really powerful weed the day before election day (I mean so powerful they think they are being chased by the cops while they are on the couch) and just win, win, win.

    Nevada`s GOP could have passed voter protestation laws/cracked the whip on Immigration their dispossession of a majority in Carson, but they did not even submit it, why? Because “muh feels”, “muh cheap labor”, “Muh compassion”, “Muh minority rights” “Muh gentlemen rules”..And what happened? They lost their trifecta, and for what? DL`s for illegals, a tax hike, and not much else.

    That is the GOP or at least the GOP Establishment mindset and motto, “Next Time We Will Follow Through” “Tomorrow We Will Win”, never thinking that their might not be a “Next Time” or another “Tomorrow” due to displacement via immigration (thanks to the “cheap” labor at any cost hawks).

    Replace the leadership and its becomes a whole new ballgame, one were we can win and restore our nation, culture, rights and put in guards for their future securities, rather then capitulate and lose everything in the name of slave morality and self hatred of the failures of the current leadership.

    Fight to win, win at all costs.

    1. avatar barnbwt says:

      If only the right cared about guns even one tenth as much as it does about dopers, we wouldn’t be in this fix at all. I’ve said for years that the first republican president to pursue legalized weed (even highly regulated weed) will do for us what LBJ allegedly did for the black vote (“two hundred years” and all that). No, I’m not weighing in on the im/morality of using pot; I’m talking about priorities of governance, here. Fact is, gays and dopers rank lower than crushing debt burdens, crippling bureaucracy, devaluation of enumerated constitutional rights, and gross misallocation of power amongst our federal governing bodies. First things first. The Dem’s learned it when they abandoned the explicit rhetoric about oppressing black people, Republicans have a chance to learn it by abandoning the sound-bite-friendly policies they’ve been losing on consistently since Wilson was president.

      1. avatar Henry Bowman says:

        Hey true, I am all for legalizing it just to bring in voters, never mind state rights, 10th Amendment issues.

        But the GOP is in the mists of being retaken by Patriots/Nationalists and away from the Open Border, “Jack Kemp”, “Compassionate “Conservative”” “Blank slate” “I would lose “honorably” against my enemies like a coward” morons who have done NOTHING but lose elections and even after winning, still fail to wield the power we have granted the.

        The idea that bring in millions of people into the nation EVERY YEAR who vote 8-2 against you is anything other then suicide, who cares what the left says? We are “racist” just by not giving them what they want, nothing more then adult children throwing their temper tanrum because they have been told “NO”.

        1. avatar T Bob says:

          Well, we’ll never make any progress on that front with Jeff “It’s still 1959” Sessions in there. Despite the fact that I was a Rand Paul guy, I was all jazzed for ANYONE that would keep the Clintons out of the White House. When Trump won I was pretty stoked about his fervor for his many campaign promises. Now that he has walked back or been unable to accomplish almost any of them, I am really beginning to take notice of how much of a detriment he may be to our security and stability. Some days I suspect he might be a brilliant guy who is a terrible communicator, but more and more often I suspect he is a complete dumb-ass with enough confidence and bravado to sometimes mask the fact that he knows about very little about absolutely anything other than fattening his own wallet.

    2. avatar Serpent Vision says:

      –Cegavske said her office in March obtained from the DMV a list of more than 100 people statewide who presented evidence of non-citizenship and completed a voter registration application. Of those, it was determined that 21 voted, though there is only evidence that three noncitizens in Clark County illegally registered and cast a ballot.–

      Only 9,979 more to catch….

      1. avatar Chris T in KY says:

        The establishment doesn’t want to look.

        1. avatar Serpent Vision says:

          And yet someone claims to have seen 10,000 of them.

        2. avatar Sunshine_Shooter says:

          And that person isn’t of the establishment. What’s your point?

        3. avatar Serpent Vision says:

          Point is that, even absent establishment attention, there should be some evidence to support the claim of 10,000 fraudulent votes.

      2. avatar Kyle says:

        And according to the stats only 112,000 people speed each day, as that is how many speeding tickets are written….

        You wanna believe that figure too?

        1. avatar Serpent Vision says:

          Drivers do not get checked off on a registration list, leaving a paper trail.

    3. avatar Dave says:

      He’s a Godless, globalist slob who cares only for removing power from those untrustworthy Americans who aren’t billionaires like himself. Take away this puke’s security and see how he will cower in fear.

      1. avatar cjstl says:

        You don’t have to believe in God to care about people. Bloomberg’s problem is that he doesn’t care about people. He cares about power and control.

  2. avatar Henry Bowman says:

    Also we have had the Tracking Point/large caliber ban on hunting overturned by the state house as well.

  3. avatar Norincojay says:

    He would have saved lives if he donated that money to cancer research or paid for people’s healthcare they can’t afford. He doesn’t care about lives. These influence individuals have a game going on and we are pawns.

    1. avatar barnbwt says:

      Eh, even then probably not. Science doesn’t just break the laws of physics & biology because you throw money at it, but lordy do rich folks & government love to try. Like all high-dollar/high-profile research, there’s a whole lot of waste and corruption in cancer research & especially charities, same as global warming & gun control. Had he invested that money with semiconductor companies it’d probably have had the biggest payoff for mankind.

  4. avatar barnbwt says:

    God, that photo…

    “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to drink ‘Diet'”

  5. avatar W says:

    What a control freak. Utter control freak.
    The guy from NYC (and Bermuda), wants to control how people in Nevada live.

  6. avatar Question Guy says:

    Question: Does Michael Bloomberg, his business holdings, or any subsidiary thereof, own the database software used for proposed background checks/gun registries? Could any of that factor into Bloomberg’s political advocacy? Questions, questions.

  7. avatar 2aguy says:

    When I debate gun grabbers on other sites….I use the terms Poll Tax, and Literacy tests whenever they suggest licensing fees, taxes, registration or training requirements for gun ownership…..I don’t remember where I got the idea, but I use it now in the hope it will sink in, because Poll Tax and Literacy test have a resonance that other words don’t.

    Now I have another one….Stephen King’s novel, the Gunslinger is now a movie. King is one of those anti gunners who owns guns….but supports magazine limits, rifle bans and doesn’t want people to have more than 10 rounds of ammo…that is the kind of gun banner he is.

    It occurred to me….that since King is an author, that he is what used to be called a “Book Burner.” If we were talking books, instead of guns, he would be the guy throwing books he didn’t like and didn’t want the public to have access to on the fire……Since there is no rational reason behind magazine limits, rifle bans, supressor bans….those who want those items banned are the gun world version of book burners……

    I am going to start using that term to describe the anti gunners on these topics……..What do you think?

    1. avatar Wendish says:

      I read a piece that I think was by the guy who wrote Unintended Consequences and it was in part about using words exactly as you described when debating against the left. As an example, they would understand the connection more between poll tax and ammo tax than most other things we would say to them. I’ve never had any luck getting anything to be acknowledged by the liberal douchebags, however.

    2. avatar MGD says:

      Brilliant! I do the exact same thing.

  8. avatar Blacque Jacque Shellacque says:

    Miniature Mike’s minions made massive mistakes. Bloomturd’s boot-lickers bungled the boss’s background bill.

    1. avatar BDub says:

      Is that you, Payday Monsanto?

  9. avatar California Richard says:

    Maybe we should scream at the resident gun owners of nevada and tell them its their own fault for living in a communist utopia. Maybe we should urge all gun owners to leave nevada and seek refuge in a “free” state…. or maybe they should stay and fight. Gun grabbers aggressively export their ideology and if you run, they will find you. Stay and fight; have children and spread YOUR ideology.

    1. avatar Nevada says:

      As a ex-Californian and now Nevadan, I totally agree. California was red as any state before the Hippies came. Wonder how Texans will feel in twenty years when people complain about their liberal government after the state turns into Austin?

      1. avatar Nigel the expat says:

        Same with AZ. Deep blue is spreading out of Tucson (and the Flagstaff area), infecting the rest of the state.

      2. avatar Wendish says:

        I can tell you. We’re not even happy at this point. There will be blood.

    2. avatar Nigel the expat says:

      Califorinia refugees fleeing high taxes, lack of jobs, and the inability to even think about buying a home there have fled to Clark County in masses. Add to the those fleeing the NE states and Nevada isn’t so much populated with Nevadans any longer.

      And those folks who fled those other state bring their blue-state politics to NV trying to replicate the failed policies that caused them to flee in the first place. “But surely it will work here!”

      This initiative passed ONLY ONE COUNTY IN THE ENTIRE STATE: Clark County. It failed in every single other county in the state, in nearly all by a HUGE margin. Clark is now making policy for the entire rest of the state due to out of state refugees moving in and voting in their previous failed policies.

  10. avatar Roymond says:

    You err on sanctuary cities: local law enforcement is NOT bound to enforce federal law — to demand that they do is to ask for the federal government to assume unconstitutional authority.

  11. avatar Joe R. says:

    Communists have the shortest memory, on purpose.

    Bring back Joe McCarthy hearings. Unmask the antifa, drain the swamp, fill the swamp with napalm, he who throws the first molotov cocktail loses.

  12. avatar Joe R. says:

    Did Bloomberg accept $0.01 of foreign money to overthrow our Constitution? There’s a name for that.

    Was there a Russian link? Did any foreign $$$ flow through the Clinton Foundation approved by Ohole, through his State Dept and John Kerry?

    Was gun control legislation discussed by Bill Clinton in Loretta Lynch’s airplane, in a meeting on the tarmac in Las Vegas?

    Did Hillary track Bloomberg’s tax free donations to gun-control legislation on her open-source bathroom yoga video server?

    Did protesting Libyans attempt to stop the state dept from outing the CIA’s outpost so that the Clinton Foundation could receive $$$ for Bloomberg’s Make America Weak For Once if State would relinquish a leaderless Libya to the Mudlim Brotherhood For Arab Spring (called ISIS)?

  13. avatar Mikial says:

    I hate the Liberal agenda because they try to control my life. I don’t do well with that.

  14. avatar LHW says:


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