Brendan Pierson
Thomson Reuters
Brendan Pierson reports on product liability litigation and on all areas of health care law. He can be reached at brendan.pierson@thomsonreuters.com.
May 30 (Reuters) – Los Angeles on Tuesday announced a settlement with a Nevada-based company it accused of illegally selling so-called “ghost guns,” components without serial numbers that a purchaser can easily assemble into a complete gun, in California.
The company, Polymer80, will pay $4 million in civil penalties, and its two founders will pay a combined $1 million. Polymer80 will be barred from selling gun components or kits in the state without including serial numbers and conducting background checks on the buyers.
“This settlement holds Polymer80 and its founders accountable, keeps guns out of the hands of prohibited people, makes L.A. neighborhoods safer and will help law enforcement do their jobs,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto in a statement.
Polymer80 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Los Angeles had said that ghost guns allowed people prohibited from having guns, including felons and minors, to obtain them, and pointed to Polymer80 as a major culprit. It said that from January 2020 through February 2023, the city’s police recovered more than 4,200 Polymer80 ghost guns.
It alleged that Polymer80’s sales practices violated the federal Gun Control Act. They also said the company’s products violated California’s Unsafe Handgun Act, which requires guns to have certain safety features, or its Assembly of Firearms Law, which mandates serial numbers.
The city’s lawsuit is one of several around the country that have aimed to curb the spread of ghost guns. New York recently won an order barring ghost gun sales by 10 companies. Connecticut is pursuing a similar lawsuit.
State gun laws around the country have been struck down in legal challenges following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year dramatically expanding gun rights.
Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Richard Chang
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
With more preseason hype than seemingly any other Penn State Football team in this century, the Nittany Lions will open the season with three out-of-conference opponents, starting with Nevada from the Mountain West.
The hype, combined with Nevada’s 3-10 record in 2024, has the Nittany Lions as 43.5-point favorites per DraftKings, with an over/under not listed yet. Penn State’s last win by more than 43 points came in week three of the 2024 season against Kent State, as the game finished 56-0.
Over the past five seasons, Penn State has been one of the best teams against the spread in the country. With the 12-team college football playoff, taking care of every team on your schedule is even more important.
DraftKings has also set the Nittany Lions’ win total to 10.5 games this season, which is tied for the highest win total with Oregon and Ohio State. There is no team in the country with an 11.5 win total.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – The Raiders Foundation proudly hosted the second annual Silver & Black Gala on May 17 at Allegiant Stadium, raising an impressive $3 million to benefit youth mental health initiatives across Nevada. Building on the success of its inaugural year and seeing considerable growth, the Gala once again spotlighted the Foundation’s commitment to uplifting communities through access, awareness, and action.
Presented by Intermountain Health, the evening gathered nearly 1,000 attendees, including local business leaders, public officials, and a contingent of Raiders, including alumni, current players, and front office staff for a powerful night of giving. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the Gala will directly fund mental health services, programs, and resources for youth in Southern Nevada.
The evening began with an impassioned speech from Raiders Owner Mark Davis, who lit the Al Davis Memorial Torch in honor of Elaine Wynn, followed by a surprise $1 million donation from the Raiders Foundation to four Nevada-based organizations delivering critical mental health support to young people: Boys Town Nevada, Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada, Solutions for Change, and Campus for Hope.
“Mental health is a critical pillar of well-being, especially for our youth,” said Sandra Douglass Morgan, President of the Las Vegas Raiders. “The Raiders are proud to leverage the power of this organization and the generosity of our community to help remove the stigma and expand access to essential resources. The Silver & Black Gala represents more than a night of giving — it’s a statement of our long-term commitment to the health and future of Nevada’s youth.”
“The overwhelming support we received at this year’s Gala reflects how deeply our community cares about the mental health of our young people,” said Kari Uyehara, Executive Director of the Raiders Foundation. “It’s an honor to channel that generosity directly into programs making an immediate and lasting impact. We’re especially proud to recognize and support organizations doing the hard work on the ground every day to lift up Nevada’s youth.”
Each of the four nonprofit recipients expressed deep gratitude for the unexpected investment:
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Raiders Foundation for recognizing the importance of early mental health intervention,” said Executive Director of Boys Town Nevada John Etzell. “This support enables us to expand vital programs that help young people develop resilience, heal from trauma, and build brighter futures.”
“This gift is truly transformational for the young clients we serve,” said Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada Executive Director Patrick Bozarth. “Mental health care should never be a luxury, and with the Raiders Foundation’s investment, we can reach more youth with the timely, compassionate support they deserve.”
“The Raiders Foundation’s leadership in mental health advocacy is inspiring,” said Danisha Mingo, Founder and Executive Director of Solutions for Change. “This funding allows us to continue our mission of empowering youth through education, therapeutic care, and community engagement — all essential tools in breaking the cycle of trauma and adversity.”
“This generous support from the Raiders Foundation strengthens our ability to meet youth where they are — with empathy, safety, and resources,” said Campus for Hope CEO Kim Jeffries. “Together, we’re building a healthier Nevada where no young person feels invisible or alone.”
The evening also featured the presentation of the “Commitment to Excellence Award” to Gary and Debbie Ackerman from Gaudin Ford and Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons in recognition of their outstanding philanthropic and community leadership.
Among the night’s highlights:
Notable guests included Owner Mark Davis, President Sandra Douglass Morgan, Head Coach Pete Carroll, and General Manager John Spytek, along with Raiders Alumni Charles Woodson, Jim Plunkett, Eric Allen, and Marcus Allen. More than 40 current Raiders players attended, including Maxx Crosby, Geno Smith, Daniel Carlson, and Jackson Powers-Johnson.
For more information about the Raiders Foundation and future events, visit raiders.com/foundation.
The end is near. Don’t worry, it’s not the apocalypse. It’s just the Nevada Legislature.
Legislators are burning the midnight oil pushing through hundreds of bills. Last week marked the major second committee passage deadline, and there is one more major deadline between now and the final day of session on June 2.
Bills without exemptions must pass out of the second house by Friday, May 23, to get the governor’s consideration.
That means there are roughly two weeks for committees to consider some of the most talked-about legislation of the session. Lombardo’s remaining four priority pieces of legislation still need to have their first hearings. At least one of the bills is scheduled to go in front of the Assembly Ways and Means committee this week. Assembly Bill 584, his education package, will be heard Tuesday morning.
But beware: a deadline failure does not mean a piece of legislation is doomed. Policies can be revived or amended into existing bills, prolonging their discussions until sine die, when this session ends.
Here’s what’s been going on in Nevada’s capital.
Recapping the recent deadline
Last week was eventful for the biennial Legislature. It pushed bills through the second committee passage deadline, and advanced some major bills that had been exempt from the deadline.
First, the bid to stop Nevada’s clocks from changing twice a year failed. AB 81, which would have exempted Nevada from daylight saving time, didn’t make it out of the second committee passage.
An amended version of the governor’s AB 540, called the Nevada Housing Access and Attainability Act, passed out of the Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor on Friday – the first of the governor’s priority bills to make through committee.
It was amended to decrease the amount put into the proposed Nevada Attainable Housing Fund from $200 million to $150 million, and to remove a portion that would have allowed attainable housing projects to be exempt from prevailing wage requirements.
In other news from deadline day, an amended version of the SB 179, which would allow the Nevada Equal Rights Commission to investigate claims of antisemitism in housing, public accommodations and employment, passed out of committee.
During bill’s discussion May 13, Jewish advocacy groups called for the bill to be amended to use the widely recognized definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Other dead bills
In addition to the death of the daylight saving time bill, 30 other measures failed to advance the Friday deadline.
Those bills include:
It’s far less than the 281 measures that failed the first committee passage deadline on April 11. But there are still 414 bills and resolutions as of Monday that are exempt from all deadlines, most often because they contain an appropriation or would have a fiscal or revenue impact to the state.
Monday updates
That brings us to Monday. Agendas have grown longer for money committees where lawmakers are hearing bills with significant fiscal impact to the state, some for the first time. The Senate approved SB 89, a bill preventing someone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from purchasing or owning firearms for up to 10 years after the conviction. The bill passed 12-8 and still must be considered by the Assembly.
The Democrats’ answer to education policy — SB 460 sponsored by state Sen. Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro – was heard for the first time Monday afternoon.
Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com and Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ and @jess_hillyeah on X.
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