Saturday, February 23, 2013

A Scary Reminder from Steven Brooks

Oh, what a week this has been. Yesterday in the Southwest Vegas Valley, a coalition of progressive activists gathered outside Two. Joe Heck's office demanding action on gun safety reform. And at that rally, OFA super volunteer and mental health professional Linda Cavazos talked about the intersection of mental health care policy and gun safety policy.



Yet while activists down south were asking Heck to act on gun safety, the Steven Brooks story took a disturbing new turn up north. Yesterday, KRNV discovered that Brooks tried to buy a gun at a Scheels store in Sparks. Brooks apparently moved to Reno earlier this month, and there's been concern of him returning to Carson City despite being banned from the Legislature Building. Legislature security were placed on alert once news broke of his attempted Scheels purchase.



Now here's the scary twist to this story. Even though Brooks was committed to a mental health treatment facility after his first arrest, Scheels may still sell him that gun! Yes, despite everything we've seen from Brooks in the past month, he can still purchase firearms and ammunition.

This is the reality of our current gun laws, both in state and federally. Even people who may pose a threat to themselves and to others can still access firearms. This is a serious problem.

Imagine what may happen if Steven Brooks gets that gun. Remember what (allegedly) Brooks threatened to do to Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-North Las Vegas)? And remember what Brooks has been up to for the past month? And he may still buy a gun?

Nevada, we have a problem. And Congress, you must act.

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