A gun control advocacy organization is trying to prove that groups like the National Rifle Association (NRA) influenced Nevada county officials to pass resolutions that defy a new state gun background check law.
The Brady Campaign issued Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests Tuesday to several Nevada counties, asking them to produce communications related to sanctuary county resolutions, The Associated Press reported.
“These Nevada county commissioners and sheriffs have gone rogue,” Brady President Kris Brown said in a statement. “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.”
Brady’s actions are part of a national campaign to prove that Second Amendment organizations are behind the “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement recently pursued by county governments across several states.
It made similar requests in March in New Mexico, where 26 counties have enacted “sanctuary” ordinances, and the group is considering action in Illinois, Washington and Colorado. All three states recently passed new gun buyer regulations, which municipal officials have threatened to defy.
The group is hoping to surface communications that link county officials to gun rights groups, proving these groups improperly influenced county governments to violate gun laws and jeopardized public safety.
“This is different. This is telling law enforcement officers not to enforce the law,” Brady spokesman Max Samis said in remarks to the AP.
The new law in Nevada requires background checks on all gun sales, including at gun shows and online.
Pro-gun Nevada Firearms Coalition President Don Turner has said he supports the counties for defying laws that “infringe on U.S. and Nevada constitutions.”
Officials in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, have indicated they will support the new state law in January 2020, when it becomes official.
The “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement came from the “sanctuary cities” trend, where municipal governments refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officers.
The NRA did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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