Gun control group targets Nevada sheriffs over new law

A national gun control lobbying organization on Tuesday made Nevada the latest Western state where it is trying to show that gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association are behind a "Second Amendment sanctuary" drive. The Brady advocacy group said it believes gun rights advocates improperly orchestrated resolutions by rural lawmakers and sheriffs who say they won't enforce a new state law requiring background checks on all gun sales, including purchases at gun shows and on the internet. "These Nevada county commissions and sheriffs have gone rogue," Brady President Kris Brown said in a statement saying the officials are endangering public safety by declaring they won't enforce strict background checks. "If your job is to keep your constituents safe and defend public safety, you should have a vested interest in keeping guns out of dangerous hands," she said. The National Rifle Association didn't immediately respond to messages about the Brady organization filings seeking emails and communications from commissioners in four of Nevada's 17 counties and sheriffs in three. Don Turner, head of the pro-gun Nevada Firearms Coalition, said he supports the counties and sheriffs for balking at laws "that infringe on U.S. and Nevada constitutions." Brady spokesman Max Samis acknowledged that communications and lobbying happens on both sides of the gun issue. "This is different," he said. "This is telling law enforcement officers not to enforce the law." The push for documents in Nevada follows requests by the Brady organization for records last month in New Mexico, where at least 26 county commissions approved so-called Second Amendment sanctuary ordinances in opposition to an expanded gun background checks law due to take effect July 1...MORE