Police records show the man accused of killing four people in New York City on July 28 had been placed on two emergency psychiatric holds in Nevada but was still legally able to purchase firearms, including the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police records detail multiple encounters with 27-year-old Shane Tamura, including 911 calls from his mother reporting that he was suicidal and diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Incidents in 2022 and 2024 led police to initiate 72-hour emergency mental health holds, but Nevada does not automatically report such temporary holds to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Duke University professor Jeff Swanson, who studies gun laws and public safety, said about half of U.S. states treat short-term holds as disqualifying for gun purchases — but Nevada requires a court-ordered involuntary commitment before a firearm prohibition applies. Without such an order, the information never reaches NICS.
Swanson noted that federal criteria for adding people to the prohibited list can be inconsistent, sometimes including individuals unlikely to be violent while omitting those with serious risk factors. He emphasized the value of “red flag” laws, which allow courts to issue emergency risk protection orders (ERPOs) to temporarily seize guns from people deemed a threat.
Nevada’s red flag law, in place since 2019, allows courts to block gun ownership for up to a year. If an ERPO had been issued after Tamura’s last hold in August 2024, he could not have bought the rifle legally. Records show police did not seek such an order.
University of Michigan researcher April Zeoli said ERPO use varies widely depending on law enforcement training and awareness. Nevada issued just 28 ERPOs in 2024, far fewer than states like California or Florida, where thousands are granted annually. The law passed without Republican support, and some sheriffs in the West have resisted using it, arguing it infringes on gun rights.
