Though the drive to create a public health insurance option has made little headway at the federal level, a proposal to create the country's second state-managed public option is moving forward in the Nevada Legislature.
The bill that would ban guns in casinos, SB 452, awaits a floor vote in the Assembly after surviving a party-line vote in committee and an even narrower 11-10 vote in the state Senate. State Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, joined nine Republicans in opposing the measure.
The fate of that effort together with the long-awaited introduction of a measure to raise mining taxes via constitutional amendment may remain unknown until the final few hours of the session.
Legislative leaders declined to comment Wednesday on a long-rumored deal with Republicans that would give Nevada voters a chance to lift mining tax caps spelled out in the state constitution.
AP Photo/John Locher
A bill that would expand the criminal penalties for bringing a gun into casinos in Nevada narrowly passed out of the state Senate on Wednesday on a 11-10 vote, and the legislation is being criticized not only by Second Amendment organizations but police unions and the state’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. While the ACLU isn’t usually a defender of the right to keep and bear arms, the Nevada chapter says the bill could lead to casinos calling the cops on black and brown patrons they suspect might have a gun on them.