Assembly passes campus carry CCW bill

The Nevada Assembly approved on Monday AB 148, which allows holders of concealed carry weapons permits (CCW) to bring their firearm onto Nevada state universities and community colleges in order to protect themselves from criminals.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore’s (R-Las Vegas) introduction of AB 148 was inspired by the story of Amanda Collins, a former University of Nevada, Reno student and CCW holder who was brutally raped in a parking garage less than 300 yards from the campus police station in 2007. Collins was unable to carry her firearm at UNR due to a campus prohibition.

Fiore watched Collins burst into tears last session after the Assembly Judiciary Committee refused to hold a vote on the issue. A similar bill in 2011 passed the State Senate but was not put up for a vote in the Assembly.

According to a 2007 study by the Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice, nearly one in five college women will be victims of attempted or completed sexual assault.

That is why Fiore believes this bill is so important.

“Today, the Assembly passed common-sense legislation that provides responsible gun owners the opportunity to protect themselves,” Fiore said. “We cannot have a law that leaves women defenseless when they have the ability and the means to stop their attacker.”

Along with Fiore, 18 other members of the Assembly and two state senators sponsored the bill.