ICYMI: Meet an anti-gun safety Senate candidate: Adam Laxalt [The American Independent]

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The American Independent: Meet an anti-gun safety Senate candidate: Adam Laxalt

By Josh Israel

June 29, 2022

Nevada Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt has received an A+ rating — and a lot of money — from the National Rifle Association.

Key Points:

• Nevada Republican Senate nominee Adam Laxalt claims on his campaign website to have “stood tall in support of the second amendment at every turn.” In practice, this has meant he has opposed even the most popular and modest measures aimed at curbing gun violence.

• He has made no attempt to hide his opposition to virtually all gun safety legislation.
  
  
• On June 23, the Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a New York limit on the concealed carry of handguns in the state… In a Twitter thread, Laxalt celebrated the ruling as “a tremendous victory for the constitutional rights of Americans” and criticized Congress for passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a compromise bill to keep guns out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers, fund states’ implementation of red flag laws to temporarily disarm people judged to be a threat to themselves or others, and enhance background checks for would-be gun purchasers under the age of 21.
  
  
• Cortez Masto voted for the gun compromise. “Throughout my Senate career, I’ve stood up for commonsense measures to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings like the one at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in my hometown of Las Vegas,” she said in a press release. “This bipartisan bill makes real progress to reduce violence and keep our communities safe.” She also noted her support for expanded background checks and limits on gun magazine capacity.
  
  
• [Laxalt] has consistently sided with the gun lobby and against positions supported by a majority of Americans.
  
  
• Laxalt’s campaign site features an endorsement from the National Rifle Association. In May, he told the right-wing site Breitbart, “I am honored to once again earn the endorsement of the National Rifle Association and to receive an A+ rating for my record of supporting our Second Amendment liberties. The NRA’s members have been on the front lines protecting our Constitutional rights and I am proud to stand with them.”
  
  
• Its campaign arm has given $4,950 to his Senate committee and $11,000 to his previous campaigns.
  
  
• On Oct. 1, 2017, a gunman killed 58 people at a Las Vegas country music festival. Laxalt, then the Nevada attorney general, opposed any new legislation to prevent similar events.
  
  
• In 2015, President Barack Obama’s administration attempted to institute a ban on a type of armor-piercing bullet in order to protect law enforcement officers. Laxalt was one of 23 state attorneys general to sign a letter opposing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ proposed regulation.
  
  
• As of April 2022, 25 U.S. states did not require individuals to obtain a permit in order to carry concealed firearms in public. Laxalt has pushed reciprocity laws to force all states to allow visitors from those that don’t require permits to carry concealed weapons, no matter what their own laws say.
  
  
• As a Senate candidate, he continues to highlight his opposition to extreme risk safety legislation. “Adam worked collaboratively with legislators, raising money through a PAC to message against red flag laws in Nevada,” his campaign site says.
  
  

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