The Fight for Gun Rights in Washoe County

I went to the RTC board meeting today and Renoglock22 was also there, we where both open carrying.

When the time came I went up the the front and spoke to the council and I was nervous about it due to the fact I hate public speaking and here is what I said:

Good morning to the Regional transportation commissioners

My name is John Blair, I have been for the past year writing letters to the Reno and Sparks city councils and also to the Washoe county commissioners having to do with gun laws.

I am here in front of the Region Transportation commission, to let you know that in 1989 the legislators in the state of Nevada repealed all the gun laws and amended it in 2007 to make it clear as to the meaning.

NRS244.364 subsection 1 states

Except as otherwise provided by specific statute, (which there are none in NRS277A which is what  you operate under) the Legislature reserves for itself such rights and powers as are necessary to regulate the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transportation, registration and licensing of firearms and ammunition in Nevada, and no county may infringe upon those rights and powers

Now in saying that you have a rule stating that “Guns are strictly forbidden unless carried by        on-duty law enforcement, (the) 4TH STREET STATION and (the) CENTENNIAL PLAZA security officers, or an individual with a valid concealed weapons permit”, and it is not in compliance with State law and needs to be deleted from the rules and inform both your drivers and security as to the rule change.

I was talking to one of the RTC commissioners on Monday of this week, and he informed me that NRS 244.364 is for counties 400,000 people and over and does not apply to Washoe county because we do not have that many people living here.

I checked the census and found that Washoe County has 421,000, then he informed me there was a bill that modified that to 700,000 which I did find.

The thing that this commissioner did not understand and neither did I, until I researched further is that the population only applies to subsection 3 in NRS244.364 which has to do with Registration of a firearm and DOES NOT apply to subsection #1 which I read to you earlier.

I am asking the commission to delete the rule I mentioned earlier about the gun/firearm, as to avoid any kind of problems for the RTC or the county in the future by not being compliant with the law.

Thank you for your time and thank you for listening, if you have any questions please ask

As I was reading this I did notice one of the commissioners writing something down and was also giving me looks like how dare you bring this up!

Dave Aiazzi was not in attendance so I sent him an email with the above mentioned comments.

So lets see what happens now

On Sep 21, 2011 I wrote an email to the  Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) and explained to them that by them not allowing people to carry guns on the bus or in there terminals they are not in compliance with state law


Here is the letter:

Greetings to the RTC Commissioners,

One of the people I know asked a simple question on the RTC Washoe website and got an answer that I don’t feel answered his question and was hoping I could get an answer from you.

His question was a 2 part question

1.       I was wondering if RTC was regulated by the city/state.

2.       If so I was wondering what RTC's firearm policy

The answer he got back From Robert Reeder was this:

Thank you for your inquiries regarding the RTC of Washoe County. In regard to your questions:

1) The RTC of Washoe County is regulated by numerous city, county, state and federal agencies. They include but are not limited to the City of Reno Fire Department, the Washoe County Health District, Nevada OSHA, the Federal Transit Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.

2) The RTC Board of Commissioners allows permitted concealed weapons owners to carry a concealed weapon on the system. All other weapons in plain view are prohibited on the system.

First I don’t see where some of the agencies in that list Regulate what the bus or bus system do or where he got his information from, or he was just trying to confuse the situation or just did not understand the question.

What the person was asking was, what laws do the RTC and the RTC Commission have to follow?

As we know the RTC was formed in July 1979 as a result of legislation approved by the Nevada Legislature which means the RTC and RTC commission has to follow State and local laws and set rules according to those laws

Also on the http://www.co.washoe.nv.us/citizens/boards.html page under the “Regional Transportation Commission Board” heading it states:

The commission adopts rules and regulations for the organization of the commission and the conduct of its business that are not in conflict with the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Ordinance, chapter 373 of the Nevada Revised Statute or any other law of the State of Nevada.(emphases add by me)

This brings me to his second part of the answer that was given.  Mr. Reeder states that “The RTC Board of Commissioners allows permitted concealed weapons owners to carry a concealed weapon on the system. All other weapons in plain view are prohibited on the system.”

The All other weapons in plain view are prohibited on the system is vague and tends to convey that legally carried firearms in plain sight are not allowed on the buses or in the terminals and is not in compliance with State law Due to the fact that the Nevada State Legislators in 1989 added NRS244.364(county), NRS268.418(cities and towns), and NRS269.222(unincorporated towns) and amended them in 2007 to remove any doubt what they say.

Here is NRS 244.364 in part:

NRS 244.364  Limited authority to regulate firearms; restrictions concerning registration of certain firearms in county whose population is 400,000 or more.

      1.  Except as otherwise provided by specific statute, the Legislature reserves for itself such rights and powers as are necessary to regulate the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transportation, registration and licensing of firearms and ammunition in Nevada, and no county may infringe upon those rights and powers. As used in this subsection, “firearm” means any weapon from which a projectile is discharged by means of an explosive, spring, gas, air or other force.

3.       A board of county commissioners may proscribe by ordinance or regulation the unsafe discharge of firearms.

I have searched both NRS and NAC and have found nothing that gives you the ability or the authority to make and set rules to stop people from carrying a legally carried firearm in plain sight either on the buses or in the terminals so please amend your rules so they comply with state law and inform your personal (Drivers and Security especially) of these changes immediately as to avoid any potential problems or Lawsuits.

Please write back to let me know what your findings are and what is being done about this issue

On August 20, 2010 I sent this email to the Sparks city Attorney.

City Attorney

Chet Adams

431 Prater Way

Sparks, NV 89431

Phone: (775) 353-2324

Fax: (775) 353-1688

E-mail: cadams@cityofsparks.us

Mr Adams

Nevada originally passed a preemption law in 1989, meaning that counties

and municipalities such as sparks cannot pass gun laws that are more

restrictive than the state law. Some gun ordinances in some parts of the

state were “grandfathered” in at that time, I don't know if that was

true here in sparks. However, in 2007, Senate Bill 92 amended the

preemption law, removing all grandfathered ordinances with the exception

of a handgun registration ordinance. Which only applies to Clark County

This is now known as NRS 268.418 Limited authority to regulate firearms;

restrictions concerning registration of firearms in city in county whose

population is 400,000 or more.

1. Except as otherwise provided by specific statute, the Legislature

reserves for itself such rights and powers as are necessary to regulate

the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transportation,

registration and licensing of firearms and ammunition in Nevada, and no

city may infringe upon those rights and powers. As used in this

subsection, “firearm” means any weapon from which a projectile is

discharged by means of an explosive, spring, gas, air or other force.

There is also sections NRS 244.364 and NRS 269.222 that deal with county

and unincorporated areas and are worded similar.

Section 12.24.070 of the Sparks Municipal code states that

A. Except as provided in subsection C, it is unlawful for any person to

carry or wear a firearm in a city park.

B. A "firearm" means any weapon with a caliber of .177 inches or greater

from which a projectile may be propelled by means of explosive, spring,

gas, air or other force.

C. Nothing in this section prohibits the carrying or wearing of a

firearm by a peace officer or the carrying of a firearm pursuant to the

terms of a valid concealed weapons permit.

(Ord. 1383 § 1 (part), 1983.)(Ord. 2339, Amended, 09/11/2006)

This is directly in violation of State preemption laws passed in 1989

and 2007, and Section 12.24.070 of the Sparks Municipal code should be

repealed in its entirety to bring it back in line with State Law.

I respectfully request that you advise all such departments that they

remove this signage and instruct law enforcement that there is no law

against such exercise of rights.

As a law abiding citizen I wish to go about my business without

interference with the comfort of knowing I am able to defend myself and

my family.

I look forward to your cooperation in this matter.

Here is the Reply I received from him

Mr. John-in-Reno,
 Thank you very much for your input. I am away from my office today and have a full city council meeting on Monday.
 I agree with you that this is a matter of great importance and one that deserves immediate attention. I was not aware of this potential conflict in the law and I appreciate you briniging it to my attention.
 I have asked one of our attorneys to look into your concerns and report back to me with their research results. Please rest assured that I will independtly look into this as well and I will get back to you within a week with a response.
 As a gun owner and a CCW permittee myself , I beleive that all of our citizens enjoy the right to self defense and protection. I can garantee you that if I believe the City's ordinances conflict with Nevada law, I will ask that the ordinances be repealed.
 Thank you,
 Chet Adams
 Sparks City Attorney

On November 8, 2010  bill #2625 was introduced and had a first reading, to the Sparks City Council to repeal the section of the sparks ordnance dealing with firearms in the park.

On November 22, 2010 was the second reading of the bill and they voted to pass the bill

Here is the Dropbox link to the final bill signed and passed Ord2526.pdf