Library Board of Trustees Take Up Open Carry (Probably)

The Las Vegas Clark County Library District had a closed session at its last board of trustees meeting, Thursday the 19th. The agenda states that it was "regarding litigation and labor issues." Only one case could be found currently pending against the District. From the agenda:

It is almost certain that the board met with their counsel Gerald Welt (who admitted the district would sue anyway) to discuss the open carry lawsuit. Oh to have been a fly on the wall of that room...

There is no way to learn what was discussed in the meeting. The minutes won't be published for 30 days and closed sessions are subject to attorney-client privilege. Only by deeds will we know the outcome, but it is quite likely the case will end up moving through the court system. The next court date is June 21, 2016.

North Las Vegas Police Lie Again About Gun Laws

North Las Vegas police continue their old tricks of harassing and lying to open carriers. On Facebook, a citizen reported that he was pulled over by NLVPD. The officer gave him a warning, telling him that it was illegal to have a round chambered in his revolver.

This is not true. Only long-guns (rifles, shotguns) must not have a round in the chamber in a vehicle (NRS 503.165). As our readers know, no local laws regarding firearms, except unsafe discharge, can be made or enforced by any local authority. Only the legislature can make such laws.

The City of North Las Vegas ordinance the officer mentioned was referring to was repealed this fall. So the officer was derelict in his duty for not knowing the law or is simply a liar.

With the widespread reporting of SB 175/240 doing away with ‘blue cards’ and enhancing local preemption, no local police officer should be ignorant of the law, and all patrol officers likely sat through a briefing and even probably saw an email or two on the subject.

North Las Vegas has a nasty reputation for unlawfully harassing armed citizens, particularly armed minorities. Despite assurances from the chief of police and such measures as SB 175/240, officers continue to lie, harass citizens, abuse their authority, and engage in misconduct. Granted, it is not as widespread in years past or something that an armed citizen needs to worry about, but it still does happen. North Las Vegas police have absolutely no excuse for lying to citizens or not knowing the correct laws.

So what can you do? If this happens to you, be sure to get the officer’s name and identification number. It’s recommended that you record your encounter as well. If the officer gives erroneous information, harasses or threatens you, or outright lies about the law, file a citizen’s complaint against the officer. If you are cited or arrested, contact an attorney. The city can face enhanced civil penalties for violating state preemption laws. Please also contact Nevada Carry.

In the mean time, I urge all my readers to contact the chief of police and the city council to let them know this behavior will not be tolerated and of the need to educate and discipline their employees.

Chief Alexander Perez (pereza@cityofnorthlasvegas.com)

City Council

Mayor John J. Lee

Councilman Isaac E. Barron

Councilwoman Pamela A. Goynes-Brown

Councilwoman Anita G. Wood

Councilman Richard Cherchio

Click link for the Car Carry Page

Past articles:

North Vegas Police Still Discriminates Against Open Carriers

Chief of NLVPD Responds to Open Carry Rights Violation

Illegal Open Carry Detention in North Las Vegas

Chief of NLVPD Responds to Open Carry Rights Violation

We recently emailed the North Las Vegas police chief’s office for comment regarding a citizen’s complaint that he was illegally detailed for openly carrying a handgun in a city park—a right that is protected by state law. The city ordinances prohibiting such actions were recently repealed, as required by a new state law. In the time since we first published the article on the blog, we have learned about more similar illegal detentions that lead us to believe this is a pattern and practice, often based on nothing more than an undesirable person (usually race-based) legally exercising their right to bear arms.

It took over ten days to get a response of substance (from first inquiry). This is the response from Chief Alexander Perez with editors comments in red. 

"Thank you for inquiring about the policies of the North Las Vegas Police Department. I believe it is important for the citizens as well as the police officers of this city to know and understand the laws governing them." 

While the Chief believes that police and citizens should be educated in matters of the law, actual follow through and obedience to the law by his officers is lacking. Knowledge is one thing, obedience is the other.

"Reference the open carry of firearms: I want to ensure you that the policy of the North Las Vegas Police Department is to enforce the ordinances of the City of North Las Vegas, state and federal laws."

How they are not enforcing the repealed ordinances? We understand they are enforcing local laws (that is the purpose of law enforcement). The issue at hand is improper enforcement of laws that no longer exist and would have no validity anyway. What about obedience to the laws that prohibit behavior such as occurred in this incident? 

"The North Las Vegas Police Department and its officers are aware of the passage and adoption of SB 175 and 240 as well as the amendments made to the City of North Las Vegas Municipal code reflecting the state law changes." 

Aware or actively practicing? Have they been finally educated, reminded, and ordered to stop enforcing illegal (now non-existent) laws? What about illegal detentions, lying to citizens, and threatening them with arrest? Does the Chief care that his officers’ actions may very well discourage citizens from carrying and thus put them at risk of violence? 

"Regarding the specific incident from September 20, 2015, it has been looked into and handled on an interdepartmental level. The City's employment policies restrict any comment on the specifics of any internal investigation or personnel matter." 

This is perfectly understandable. I’d be a little worried if they did go into detail. Based on my experience, the officers were likely verbally admonished with a warning no to do it again (independent media is watching). It is important to note, he did not deny this happened or correct us on the details, therefore verifying it did occur as reported to us.

At the very least, why not a disclaimer? “Sorry about that, it appears to be an isolated incident. I know we’ve had problems in the past, but I’m a new chief committed to fixing those issues. We support the right to bear arms and will work very hard to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.” Humility is apparently not part of government officials' make-up. 

We’d like to believe that police are bigger than this sort of thing. Additionally, Nevada Carry has expended a lot of time and words to defending North Las Vegas and its police by arguing that these incidents haven’t happened in years. Clearly, we were wrong.

One might say that this is tacit approval to these officers behaviors; that with the ‘right’ subject, in the ‘right’ circumstances, lying about the law and an illegal detention for the purposes of harassment. Business as usual all along? The ends justify the means? Are we wrong in our assumptions?

We asked for a public disavowal of such behavior as it would go a long way in the mind of the Nevada gun community that your department does not approve of officers who behave in such illegal and unethical manner. Instead of such disavowal, the reply your editor received was fairly vague and paid bare lip service to the concerns raised. Maybe they incorrectly have shrugged this off as a trivial matter, failing to recognize their failures with the public over the years. Accepting wrongs have occurred, apologizing, and working to actively correct the is what the public needs to restore the distrust many cities have with the police. 

UDPATED: Open Letter to North Las Vegas City Attorney Re: Open Carry Incident

The following is an open letter sent to the North Las Vegas City Attorney regarding the recent open carry incident.

It has come to my attention that a citizen who was openly carrying a holstered handgun was illegally and improperly detained recently by North Las Vegas Police officers.

This occurred Sunday, 9/20/2015 at between approximately 5-6PM at the Cheyenne Sports Complex. The citizen involved, Jose, told me the following:

Jose was with two other family members visiting an impromptu truck show at the Cheyenne Sports Complex. Jose was openly carrying a handgun.

At some point, police officers began to arrive. Jose did not witness any illegal activity and is unaware of any reason why the police would be called. Police began shouting, declaring the event to be an illegal assembly and ordering the crowd to disperse.

When police saw that Jose was armed, police approached him, ordering him to put his hands behind his back. Jose complied. When he asked if he was being detained, the officers did not respond. Jose was handcuffed, disarmed, and escorted to a police vehicle where he was handcuffed. Police took his wallet and discovered his concealed firearm permit (CCW). At this point, the officers uncuffed him.

Jose was surrounded by six to seven officers. One officer berated him, telling him that Jose was in violation of the terms of his concealed firearm permit and that the officer was going to cite Jose for open carry in a park, which according to the officer, was illegal per North Las Vegas city code.

Jose attempted to inform the officer that he was incorrect, that state law preempted North Las Vegas’ ordinances, but the officer continued to argue and threaten Jose. Jose was then released, after police escorted him to his vehicle to put away his firearm.

As you are no doubt aware, Senate Bills SB 175 and SB 240, enacted June 2, 2015, altered NRS 268.418 to preempt and invalidate North Las Vegas’ city ordinances regarding possession of firearms. The ordinances were repealed as required by the bills.

Unfortunately, this information was either not made clear to the police officers involved or they manifestly chose to ignore the law, cite repealed and invalidated ordinances. Additionally, based on the information I have obtained, the officers likely engaged in racial profiling and violated the citizen’s civil rights when they illegally detained him. The Nevada gun community is aware of far too many such violations occurring in the history of the North Las Vegas police department.

As a journalist and editor of a website dedicated to educating the public about firearm laws and rights, I do not seek to represent or act on behalf of the involved citizen. I am interested in preserving the rights of individual citizens to enjoy their right to bear arms without infringement from police. I call your attention to this matter to help redress the wrongs committed and to remind your office of the civil penalties for violation of NRS 268.418 (eff. 10/01/2015) and those associated with civil rights violations.

Updated with the response from the city attorney:

City attorney's reply: 

Hello [name redacted] 

I will have to investigate the facts surrounding the incident you describe that occurred at the Cheyenne Sports Complex last Thursday.   

Be assured that my office and the police department are aware of the passage and adoption of SB 175 and 240, and the City appropriately amended our municipal code in August to reflect the recent changes in state law.  

Thank you for your email. 

Sandra

North Vegas Police Still Discriminates Against Open Carriers

Earlier, we sought to dispel the myth that North Las Vegas police were in the habit of detaining and profiling gun owners, particularly open carriers. The editor himself and countless citizen carriers have carried openly in the city of North Las Vegas without issue. Unfortunately, the rumors that we thought were just that have been indeed proven as true. North Las Vegas police still illegally harass citizens that carry openly and even the specter of racial profiling has raised its head in this incident. While this is probably an exception, it is highly disturbing and incredibly wrong that an officer would illegally detain a citizen and then proceed to lie about laws that don't even exist any longer.

North Las Vegas police have some serious answers to give. A response from the chief's office is pending. There are two sides to every story, however given NLVPD's history, there is no reason to doubt this story at this time.

Jose's Story

I interviewed the citizen carrier, Jose, who was illegally detained by North Las Vegas police as originally reported here.

Jose was with two other family members visiting an impromptu truck show at the Cheyenne Sports Complex. Jose was openly carrying a handgun.

At some point, police began to arrive. Jose did not witness any illegal activity and is unaware of any reason why the police would be called. Police began shouting, declaring the event to be an illegal assembly and ordering the crowd to disperse.

When police saw that Jose was armed, police approached him, ordering him to put his hands behind his back. Jose complied. When he asked if he was being detained, the officers did not respond. Jose was handcuffed, disarmed, and escorted to a police vehicle where he was handcuffed. Police took his wallet and discovered his concealed firearm permit (CCW). At this point, the officers uncuffed him.

Jose was surrounded by six to seven officers. One officer berated him, telling him that Jose was in violation of the terms of his concealed firearm permit and that the officer was going to cite Jose for open carry in a park, which according to the officer, was illegal per North Las Vegas city code.

Jose attempted to inform the officer that he was incorrect, that state law preempted North Las Vegas’ ordinances, but the officer continued to argue and threaten Jose. Jose was then released, after police escorted him to his vehicle to put away his firearm.

Unfortunately, Jose did not obtain the names or badge numbers of the officers involved, however, he will look into filing a complaint regarding the egregious and illegal behaviors of the officers.

State Preemption

As readers know, state law prohibits local authorities from regulating the carry of firearms or prohibiting them from local parks. This law was strengthened this year by SB 175 and SB 240. North Las Vegas just recently repealed its illegal firearm laws. Under state and city law, simply carrying a firearm openly in a city park would not be grounds for a detention (and wouldn’t be anywhere else carrying a firearm is permitted). Unless there are details we are not aware of, this was a totally illegal detention and a violation of civil rights.

Beginning October 1st, state law provides for stiff civil penalties for violations of ordinances that violate state preemption. Furthermore, illegally detaining someone and threatening to arrest them for a law that doesn't exist is a civil rights violation.

Police and Armed Citizens

North Las Vegas police have an incredibly bad rap when it comes to open carry. Before state preemption laws were enacted in 1989, carrying a firearm was highly restricted and per city ordinances, required a concealed firearm permit, despite state law being silent on open carry. After the preemption laws went into effect, sporadic illegal searches, seizures, and detentions occurred for those in violation of city ordinances. People openly carrying were stopped and detained. Firearms carried legally in vehicles were illegally seized. Anecdotal evidence states that minorities were disproportionately affected, profiled, harassed, and discriminated against.

Despite officers’ behaviors changing over time and preemption laws, rumors persisted that it was still illegal to have a firearm in a vehicle or carry one openly. We attempted to conclusively disprove the rumors, but sadly we have an example this illegal, unethical, and immoral behavior is still continuing. The risk was that a rogue officer who engaged in illegal, unconstitutional acts would still enforce them always existed.

Racial profiling, open disdain of armed citizens, and unconstitutional and unethical police behavior is apparently once again raising its ugly head in North Las Vegas. Others have openly carried at the same event without incident on previous occasions. This incident may have been a situation where the officers involved deliberately decided to ignore the law and violate civil rights.

Police officers need to understand that legally armed citizens, especially those who carry openly and are thus hiding nothing, are not to be viewed as threats or criminals. Rather, an armed citizen is one less person the officer needs to worry about watching over. An armed citizen can protect himself rather than solely rely on overburdened law enforcement. Armed citizens generally support and like police; when we criticize, it is to force accountability to get the best law enforcement we can get for our tax dollars. 

Police simply cannot view a Hispanic or Black armed citizen differently than a white one. Additionally, police officers who disdain armed citizens of any type need to realize that the Second Amendment, the Nevada Constitution, and state laws protect the armed citizen's rights and trump that officer's personal opinions or feelings. Those who are entrusted to uphold the law must do so as fairly and impartially as possible. 

Unless there are details that Nevada Carry is missing, this is a clear case of illegal detention of an open carrier and quite possibly racial profiling. The larger spill-over from this is what would police do in other circumstances? If times get rough, will they abrogate the Second Amendment altogether, as happened in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina? Worse, such incidents put the police in a bad situation with the community. We accept their role as being 'the bad guy', but we don't accept them as bullies. Bullying behavior from police is what causes communities to distrust law enforcement and creates the Us vs. Them mentality.

Don't let this discourage you from open carry. Such incidents are rare (but need to be zero) and do not occur in most areas of Nevada. Additionally, every gun owner should continue to exercise their rights especially in the face of such infringements. 

Please follow the blog for continuing updates and your own stories/incidents are welcome.

An open letter to the North Las Vegas City Attorney.

Illegal Open Carry Detention in North Las Vegas

Credit: Jose E. E. T., Facebook

On a Las Vegas Facebook firearm group, a member posted his experience with North Las Vegas police illegally detaining him at the Cheyenne Sports Complex while openly carrying his handgun.

The poster stated: “I was with a couple of friends in the parking lot a cop pass by and just started to tell me put your hands behind your back [...].” His firearm was not confiscated, however the officers did walk him back to his car, presumably to lock the gun in the car.

A full account from the poster is pending as Nevada Carry has requested a full interview for more details of the incident. What can be gleaned is that the poster was detained without probable cause for being in possession of a firearm in a park. He was not arrested or cited, but his was illegally prohibited from openly carrying his firearm.

As readers know, state law prohibits local authorities from regulating the carry of firearms or prohibiting them from local parks. This law was strengthened this year by SB 175 and SB 240. North Las Vegas just recently repealed its illegal firearm laws. Under state and city law, simply carrying a firearm openly in a city park would not be grounds for a detention (and wouldn’t be anywhere else carrying a firearm is permitted). Unless there are details we are not aware of, this was a totally illegal detention and a violation of civil rights.

North Las Vegas police have an incredibly bad rap when it comes to open carry. Before state preemption laws were enacted in 1989, carrying a firearm was highly restricted and per city ordinances, required a concealed firearm permit, despite state law being silent on open carry. After the preemption laws went into effect, sporadic illegal searches, seizures, and detentions occurred for those in violation of city ordinances. People openly carrying were stopped and detained. Firearms carried legally in vehicles were illegally seized. Anecdotal evidence states that minorities were disproportionately affected, profiled, harassed, and discriminated against.

Despite officers’ behaviors changing over time and preemption laws, rumors persisted that it was still illegal to have a firearm in a vehicle or carry one openly. These rumors were conclusively disproved here.

The risk was that a rogue officer who engaged in illegal, unconstitutional acts would still enforce them always existed. Yet the prevalence of these incidents has declined precipitously over the years to the point it has become almost a non-issue. The editor of Nevada Carry and others in the open carry movement have carried openly in North Las Vegas many times without incident. Sadly, racial profiling, open disdain of armed citizens, and unconstitutional and unethical police behavior is apparently once again raising its ugly head in North Las Vegas.

Nevada Carry has asked North Las Vegas police for a comment. 

Open Carry in a Car Explained, With MORE Photos!

For current information, click the link to be redirected to the Car Carry page on NevadaCarry.org.