He purportedly discharged a firearm at his homosexual neighbors. Now, he potentially confronts a sentence of up to 26 years behind bars.

He purportedly aimed his firearm at a homosexual couple, uttering, “I’m going to kill you fking fgots.”

Larry Walraven, a 75-year-old Las Vegas man, allegedly pointed a gun at his gay male neighbors and said, “I hope you f**gots die.” He then allegedly said, “I’m going to kill you f**king f**gots,” and fired the weapon four times — none of the shots hit the men.

Following the purported incident, one of the men dialed 911 to report the alleged assault. Upon police interrogation, Walraven claimed he had no knowledge of the events and asserted that he had spent the entire night tending to his mother within his residence, as per KLAS-TV.

Authorities determined that the weapon in question was a BB gun, which statistically accounts for an average of four fatalities annually. Subsequently, Walraven was apprehended by law enforcement and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, with an added hate crime enhancement. This offense carries a potential sentence of six years in prison and fines reaching $5,000. The hate crime enhancement could further extend the imprisonment period by up to 20 years. Given Walraven’s previous parole status as a repeat offender, a judge ruled to detain him in police custody without bail.

While it’s uncertain what Walraven’s sexual orientation is, heterosexual individuals tend to possess firearms at home more frequently than gay and bisexual individuals, as indicated by research from the Williams Institute. While 19% of LGB adults report having a firearm in their residence, the figure rises to 35% among heterosexual individuals.

Guns are used in nearly 60% of bias-motivated homicides against LGBTQ+ people, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects. LGBTQ+ people are more than twice as likely to be victims of gun violence than their cisgender and straight peers, according to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data. LGBTQ+ people also experience person-based violence at higher rates than victims of religiously or racially motivated crimes, according to the Williams Institute.

The incidence of hate crimes targeting sexual orientation in Nevada has varied over the past three years, as per data from the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2020, there were 14 reported hate crimes against LGB individuals. This figure increased to 30 in 2021 but decreased to 18 in 2022.