The Nevada Supreme Court recently made two significant rulings, upholding a state ban on ghost guns and rejecting an anti-abortion initiative that was no longer headed to the November ballot. The court overturned a lower court's decision that deemed the 2021 law regulating firearm components with no serial numbers as too broad and unconstitutionally vague. The law had been challenged by a gun manufacturer, Polymer80 Inc., which argued that terms such as 'blank,' 'casting,' and 'machined body' were not clearly defined. However, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the language of the statute was understandable through ordinary usage and common understanding.
The court emphasized that the ban on 'ghost guns' was crucial for public safety and aimed to protect Nevadans from violent crime. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford hailed the ruling as a win for sensible and practical measures to combat gun violence.
In a separate decision, the Supreme Court rejected a judge's ruling that an anti-abortion initiative's description was misleading and violated requirements to address a single subject. The court stated that the medical procedures outlined in the initiative petition were related to human reproduction and fell under the umbrella of reproductive health care.
Abortion rights advocates welcomed the decision, highlighting the importance of reproductive freedom in all aspects of reproductive health care. They have shifted their focus to a different and narrower initiative that seeks to amend the state constitution to guarantee access to abortion through 24 weeks of pregnancy or later to protect the pregnant person's health.
Despite the setback for anti-abortion activists, they remain committed to educating voters on why the rejected proposal was not in the best interest of Nevadans. Meanwhile, the new ballot initiative has garnered significant support, with over 160,000 signatures collected, well above the required threshold for validation.
If approved by voters in 2024 and 2026, the new initiative would enshrine current protections for abortion rights in the state constitution, ensuring continued access to reproductive health care services.
