NRS § 202.265 – Weapons at School – Nevada Law & Penalties

NRS § 202.265 is the Nevada law that prohibits having knives, guns, or other weapons at schools or childcare facilities. Penalties include up to 364 days in jail and/or $2,000 in fines.

In this article, our Las Vegas criminal defense attorneys discuss:

• 1. Is it legal to have weapons at school in Nevada?
• 2. How can I fight the charges?
• 3. What are the penalties for an NRS 202.265 violation?
• Additional Reading

1. Is it illegal to have weapons at schools in Nevada?

Schools and childcare facilities are meant to be safe havens for youngsters. Therefore Nevada law prohibits you from possessing or carrying dangerous weapons at the following locations:

• Public or private secondary schools (or vehicles belonging to them)
• Public universities
• Licensed child care facilities (or vehicles belonging to them)

Note that NRS 202.265 applies not only to school and childcare structures but also to their grounds.

Example: Max takes a walk through UNLV’s campus while carrying his rifle.  A cop with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spots the gun. He then immediately arrests Max and books him at Clark County Detention Center.  He is charged and ultimately convicted of carrying a weapon at a school.

It makes no difference in the above example that Max never entered any buildings at UNLV.  Nor does it matter he had no intention of using the gun.  Merely being on Nevada state university property while carrying a gun makes him criminally liable.

Banned weapons

The types of weapons banned from schools and childcare facilities include:

• Dirks, daggers, and switchblades knives
• Pistols, revolvers, or other firearms
• Explosive or incendiary devices
• Blackjacks, bill clubs, metal knuckles
• Nunchakus or trefoils
• Paintball guns or other devices used to mark other people with paint or other substances

Exceptions

Securities guards and peace officers may carry weapons on school and childcare grounds. Otherwise, you need written permission from school principals or branch university presidents to carry weapons. Meanwhile, childcare facilities located in a residential home have special rules:

1. It is only during the facilities’ normal operating hours that you cannot possess or carry weapons there.
2. If you are the owner or operator of the facility, you may possess and carry a weapon at any time as long as you reside in the home and comply with other Nevada weapons rules.
3. You may possess and carry weapons at a childcare facility if you receive written permission from the person designated by the facility to give permission to possess and carry weapons.¹

2. How can I fight the charges?

Here at Las Vegas Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with weapons crimes, including having weapons on school grounds. In our experience, the following three defenses have proven very effective with prosecutors, judges, and juries at getting these charges dismissed.

1. You did not know the weapon was there. A defense to any possession-related charge is that you did not know the weapon was there. For example, perhaps a third party planted the weapon in your bag. As long as you honestly were unaware of the weapon’s presence, you should not be criminally liable.
2. It was not a qualifying weapon. Perhaps the weapon in the case is not prohibited by law. For instance, switchblade-like knives with a blade of fewer than two inches long do not qualify as switchblades under Nevada law.² If we can show that your weapon was not specifically prohibited, the charge should be dropped.
3. The police search was illegal. If police seized your weapon through an illegal search, there is a way to get the weapon excluded as evidence: We can file a motion to suppress evidence with the court. This motion asks the judge to disregard all the evidence that the police unearthed through the unlawful search.

Example: A Henderson police officer gets a tip that someone was seen carrying a knife at Green Valley High School. The officer tracks the suspect down to his home and enters the house even though the suspect told him not to come in. The officer soon finds the knife in the house and arrests the suspect.

Here, we would file a motion to suppress the knife as evidence because the police performed an illegal search by searching the suspect’s house without a warrant. If the judge agrees and excludes the knife as evidence, the prosecution might dismiss the charges for lack of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Note that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment – which protects Americans’ right to bear arms – is not a defense to Nevada weapons crimes. Nor is it a defense if you have a permit to carry concealed weapons.

3. What are the penalties for an NRS 202.265 violation?

Possessing or carrying a weapon on school property is a gross misdemeanor in Nevada. The sentence includes:

• Up to 364 days in jail, and/or
• Up to $2,000 in jail.³

We may be able to get the judge to impose fines and/or probation instead of jail.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Weapons at School: Examining the Significance of Place – Journal of School Violence.
• Students who carry weapons to high school: Comparison with other weapon-carriers – Journal of Adolescent Health.
• Weapons in Schools and Zero-Tolerance Policies – NASSP Bulletin.
• Assessing School and Student Predictors of Weapons Reporting – Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice.
• Preventing Lethal Violence in Schools: The Case for Entry-Based Weapons Screening – Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

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Legal References