By Bill Dentzer Las Vegas Review-Journal December 30, 2021
CARSON CITY — A ban on the sale or possession of untraceable weapons heads a list of laws passed last session that take effect with the new year.
Part of the weapons law, passed as Assembly Bill 286 in the spring, was struck down earlier in December by a Lyon County District Court judge.
As enacted, the law sought to ban firearms that lack serial numbers, including those sold in unassembled kits or made with 3D printers, with exceptions for antiques or inoperable guns. The judge nullified the section of the law covering gun kits, citing vague language that effectively made the law unenforceable. The state is expected to appeal.
Two other significant new laws deal with elections. One replaces the state’s presidential caucuses with primaries and attempts to put Nevada at the head of the primary calendar, ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Gaining first-in-the-nation status is subject to negotiation and discussion with national parties and other states in advance of the next presidential election in 2024.
The second election bill makes mail-in voting permanent, among other changes instituted amid the pandemic in 2020 to ease and improve ballot access.
Here are 12 other laws that go into effect on New Year’s Day:
■ Senate Bill 114 allows manufacturers and food establishments to produce and sell foods and beverages that contain hemp products. Some sections took effect earlier.
■ Senate Bill 237 adds LGBTQ-owned small businesses to the list of those eligible for various forms of additional assistance, incentives and protection from discrimination.
■ Assembly Bill 42 provides for jury trials in misdemeanor domestic violence cases where weapons possession is at stake. It came in answer to a 2019 state Supreme Court decision.
■ Assembly Bill 254 allows college athletes to earn money from endorsements.
■ Assembly Bill 121 allows disabled voters to vote and register using electronic systems the way overseas and military voters currently do.
■ Assembly Bill 196 requires lactation rooms in courthouses, with some exceptions.
■ Assembly Bill 256 provides Medicaid coverage for doula services.
■ Assembly Bill 287 provides for the licensing of freestanding birthing centers.
■ Senate Bill 190 authorizes pharmacists to dispense hormonal birth control to women without a required doctor’s visit.
■ Senate Bill 251 requires primary care providers to check if women should be screened for the BRCA gene mutation that causes breast cancer.
■ Assembly Bill 358 changes Medicaid rules for prison inmates, suspending rather than terminating their eligibility while incarcerated and reinstating it as soon as possible after release.
■ Assembly Bill 118 expands the use of child restraints in vehicles, removing certain age-based weight requirements and adding height requirements, among other changes.
Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at [email protected]. Follow @DentzerNews on Twitter.