By Daniel J. Corona

As a native of rural Nevada, many of my childhood memories revolve around guns, whether it be target shooting in the hills around West Wendover or hunting chukar with my grandfather. It was through recreational shooting and hunting that my grandfather taught me the importance of not just the proper handling of firearms, but also how to be a responsible gun owner.

The story of my lifelong proximity to firearms is not unique, certainly not in rural Nevada. Many of us who grew up or have spent any significant amount of time in the rural communities of our state know that firearms are a necessity to many.

That is why I can understand the urgency that our rural sheriffs feel around ensuring that Second Amendment rights are not infringed upon. That being said, I do not believe that refusing to enforce state law is the proper way to go about this.

In 2016, the majority of voters in Nevada, including myself, voted for background checks on all sales of firearms. The ballot question was not without its flaws and the state had been unable to enforce the legislation.

That is why this session the Legislature took action and passed a law making universal background checks easier to enforce. This commonsense legislation would require background checks and waiting periods on the sale of firearms by private parties.

Many of our rural sheriffs have come out in opposition to this legislation, as it would require private parties to take the firearms into gun stores in order to have the background check processed. But instead of working with the governor and the attorney general to find a solution to this issue, these sheriffs have declared their counties “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” and have said they will refuse to enforce the new law.

Instead of taking these drastic steps, I would encourage our rural sheriffs to meet with Gov. Steve Sisolak and Attorney General Aaron Ford to find a solution. We can all agree that we want to keep firearms out of the hands of violent criminals — or those who would use the weapons to incite violence — so let’s put aside the political rhetoric and come together to find a solution to the concerns around enforceability.  

Daniel Corona is the mayor of West Wendover, Nevada, where he was born and raised. He is a fourth generation resident of the state.