Gibbons has twice used the initiative
petition process to restrict government. First in 1994, he
co-authored the Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative, which
requires a 2/3 super-majority to increase any state tax or
implement new taxes. In 2004 he co-authored the Education
First Initiative, preventing the Legislature from holding
the education hostage during budget negotiations.
Gibbons is a former combat pilot and
decorated veteran of both the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars.
He served in the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1971
and graduated from the USAF Air Command and Staff College,
as well as the Air War College. Gibbons joined the Air Guard
in 1975, attaining the rank of Colonel, and served as the
group's Vice Commander from 1990 through 1996.
Throughout his military service, Gibbons
received 19 service medals, including the Legion of Merit,
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Two Oak Leaf
Clusters, Aerial Achievement Medal and Air Force
Commendation Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster. He was also
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his extraordinary
achievement while participating as an RF-4C Flight Leader in
the Gulf War.
His experience in the military makes him
a knowledgeable and effective advocate for Nevada's premier
military training bases, NAS Fallon in Churchill County and
Nellis AFB just outside Las Vegas in Clark County.
Gibbons also spent many years working in
the private sector as a commercial airline pilot, a
hydrologist for the Federal Water Master, as a mining and
exploration geologist and as a mining and water rights
attorney in Nevada.
Jim
Gibbons was born and raised in Sparks and attended Nevada
public schools and universities. He earned a B.S. in Geology
from the University of Nevada, Reno, and a Master's degree
in Mining/Geology from the University of Nevada’s Mackay
School of Mines. Gibbons went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from
Southwestern University School of Law and completed his
post-graduate work at the University of Southern California.