He allegedly shot a gun at his gay neighbors. Now he faces up to 26 years in prison.

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.

One of the men called 911 to report the alleged assault. When police questioned Walraven, he said “he had no clue what happened” and claimed that he spent the entire night taking care of his mother inside his home, KLAS-TV reported.

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Police identified the weapon as a BB gun — BB guns kill an average of four people a year. Police arrested Walraven and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime enhancement. The charge carries a sentence of up to six years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines. The hate crime enhancement can add up to 20 years in prison. Because Walraven was already on parole as a repeat offender, a judge decided to keep him in police custody without bail.

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While Walraven’s sexual identification is unclear, heterosexual people are more likely to have guns in the home than gay and bisexual people, according to the Williams Institute. While 19% of LGB adults have a gun at home, 35% of heterosexuals have a gun at home.

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 number of hate crimes against sexual orientation in Nevada has fluctuated over the last three years for which data is available, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. While 14 anti-LGB hate crimes were reported in 2020, 30 were reported in 2021, and 18 were reported in 2022.

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