The chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court ordered a statewide review of all courts after a Reno Gazette-Journal investigation discovered that a Las Vegas court failed to report to a database potentially 2,410 people who are mentally ill and can't have firearms. The newspaper reported this week that Washoe District Court in Reno did not send 179 names to the Department of Public Safety's database of people prohibited from possessing a gun.
Clark County District Court in Las Vegas and others across the state had not sent any records of people who were found by a judge to “lack the mental capacity to contract or manage his or her own affairs” and placed under guardianship since 2010. People adjudicated with that status are not allowed to have a gun, and a 2010 law requires courts to send their names to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, used by gun dealers during a sale. The statewide court noncompliance with the law means those people could pass a background check if they wanted to buy a firearm. Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Kris Pickering ordered State Court Administrator Robin Sweet to begin a review of all courts to assess the problem.