Nevada Supreme Court rulings hand setbacks to gun-right defenders and anti-abortion activists
Nevada's Supreme Court has handed setbacks to gun-right defenders and anti-abortion activists in two new rulings
RENO, Nev. — Nevada's Supreme Court upheld a state ban on ghost guns Thursday, overturning a lower court's ruling that sided with a gun manufacturer's argument that the 2021 law regulating firearm components with no serial numbers was too broad and unconstitutionally vague.
Separately the court handed a setback to anti-abortion activists in a fight over a voter initiative that no longer was headed to the November ballot anyway, a decision that abortion rights' advocates say nonetheless helps establish important legal guidelines regarding overall reproductive health care.
The gun law had previously been struck down by Lyon County District Judge John Schlegelmilch, who ruled in favor of a legal challenge by Nevada-based gun manufacturer Polymer80 Inc. that said the statute was too vague.
Among other things, Polymer80 argued, terms such as “blank,” “casting,” and “machined body” were not defined, while “unfinished frame or receiver” failed to specify what a “finished” frame or receiver is.
In upholding the statute, the Supreme Court said in a unanimous decision that the language that lawmakers approved and then-Gov. Steve Sisolak signed was “readily” understandable through ordinary usage and common understanding.
“The statutes here only regulate conduct involving an object that is intended to ultimately become a firearm,” Chief Justice Lydia Stiglich wrote in the ruling. “They prohibit acts involving such not-yet-complete firearms that have not been imprinted with a serial number. ”
She noted in the ruling that Polymer80's “own legal counsel had written letters to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
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