“During his campaign for governor, then-sheriff Joe Lombardo downplayed the number of ghost guns recovered by police”
Last week, Joe Lombardo was caught red-handed lying while on the campaign trail in 2021– this time significantly downplaying the number of ghost guns confiscated by law enforcement. In an attempt to win over his far-right base during a competitive primary for governor, Lombardo claimed only six ghost guns had been confiscated when in reality it was hundreds. Despite lying about the threat these untraceable weapons posed, Democrats put forth legislation to protect our communities and outlaw ghost guns. Unfortunately for Nevada families, this bill was among Lombardo’s record-breaking 75 vetoes.
Read more about Democrats’ work to keep our communities safe and hold Lombardo accountable for his lies:
KUNR: Democratic lawmakers hammer Lombardo over ghost gun undercount
During his campaign for governor, then-sheriff Joe Lombardo downplayed the number of ghost guns recovered by police. Now, Democrats are planning a third attempt to ban the untraceable weapons.
- More than a year before he was elected governor, Joe Lombardo told a group of pro-gun voters that over the previous 12 months, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had encountered just six ghost guns.
- “It’s not a big issue,” he said.
- But according to an investigation of police records by KUNR and APM Reports, officers had recovered at least 252 of the firearms, which are often sold in kits without serial numbers. At the time, Lombardo was still serving as the department’s sheriff.
- Responding to Lombardo’s inaccurate claim, Las Vegas Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui didn’t mince words.
- “He chose the gun lobby over the safety of Nevadans. He chose the gun lobby over Nevada lives,” she said.
- Neither Gov. Lombardo nor multiple Republican lawmakers responded to interview requests for this story.
- “The investigation only reaffirmed for me the need to take action in the next legislative session to prevent more unnecessary gun violence and gun deaths,” [State Senator Melanie Scheible] said.
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