The state Assembly voted Monday for a bill that began as an effort to strengthen state laws dealing with guns and was amended to help a knife manufacturer set up shop in Nevada.
SB199, bringing Nevada into compliance with federal laws, makes it illegal for someone to knowingly sell a gun to a person who is a convicted felon, takes illegal drugs or has been judged mentally ill by a court.
Other provisions make it illegal to make, import, sell or possess machine guns or silencers, unless authorized by federal law; or to remove or destroy a serial number on a gun. It's currently only illegal to own one with the serial number destroyed.
The knife amendment was sought by Assemblyman Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, who was unable to win approval of his earlier bill aimed at helping Emerson Knives Inc., now located in California, move to Douglas County.
Hettrick said the company sells its knives to police and the military. One product, while not spring-loaded, has a spring that keeps it locked once it is open -- and that brought it under the state's definition of illegal switchblade knives.
