The Nevada Sheriff’s and Chief’s Association proposed amending the bill in an attempt to ensure that “it does not apply to a person who is carry (sic) a legal knife on campus for a legitimate reason,” limiting it only to minors and students. However, the proposed amendment language is itself problematic and, in our view, would not solve the basic problem, that there is no need for such state regulation of this issue. The amendments would make the bill a bit better for knife owners, but certainly do not improve the bill enough to stop opposing it. This bill would still set very bad precedent by adding a definition of “Dangerous Knives” to Nevada law.
We must continue to put pressure on Senators to stop this bill. Please vote “Against” SB171 and provide comments to support your opposition: http://bit.ly/i224SF
Below are some examples of the type of comments you can leave. PLEASE BE POLITE and RESPECTFUL! This makes all the difference in how these comments are received and we need them to count. Put these you’re your own words to carry the most weight. A continued strong showing of public opinion against this bill will help us defeat it.
If you are not a resident of Nevada, but do business or recreate there, make sure to include that in your comments. The Senators only care about their voters and those who can affect their voters. Other comments and votes will be ignored for the most part.
- There is no reason to add “dangerous knife” to NV statutes because there are already definitions for dangerous weapons in Nevada law.
- The legislature should only legislate against bad behavior not the victimless possession of common, everyday tools.
- Schools already have broad authority to regulate what does or does not come onto their campuses.
- Many rural school children carry a small pocket knife for everyday chores, should they really face criminal charges for this?
- A two inch bladed knife may easily fit on a key ring. Do we really want to criminalize that?
- If you are a UNION member: I am a member of xxxx Union and am very concerned that this law will jeopardize me personally because I carry a knife every day for work.
You can read the proposed bill here: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/76th2011/Bills/SB/SB171.pdf
An overview:
Nevada State Senator Sheila Leslie (D, Washoe 1) has introduced SB 171, to add to the list of weapons that the state prohibits in schools, including a so-called “dangerous knife,” meaning, in her bill, any knife with a blade 2 inches or longer. Among the many problems with this bill, this new definition of a so-called “dangerous knife” would set very bad precedent in Nevada state law
Sen. Leslie’s bill adds to the list of weapons that the state prohibits in schools, including a sword, axe or hatchet, machete and so-called “dangerous knife,” meaning in her bill, any knife with a blade 2 inches or longer. Nevada is one of the few rational states where common pocket knives are not mandated to be treated as weapons prohibited by the state from schools. Schools are free to determine for themselves what restrictions, if any, they will make. Apparently not everyone in Nevada is willing to allow schools to deal with this issue as they see fit.
We need your support to oppose legislation such as this. Donate today to support Knife Rights: http://bit.ly/fMccv9
Knife Rights is on the ground in Nevada, working to stop this unnecessary and unreasonably restrictive bill which sets bad president.
We need your support to oppose legislation such as this. Donate today to support Knife Rights