Repeal of local firearm ordinances proposed

Firearms regulation would be consistently enforced across the state under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee March 19.

Introduced by Crete Sen. Laura Ebke, LB289 would repeal individual city and village ordinances governing the registration, possession, transportation, transfer and storage of firearms and ammunition. Cities and villages would retain the authority to enforce prohibitions on firearm discharge.

The bill also would revoke regulations that remain in some city and village ordinances but were superseded in 2006 by the Concealed Handgun Permit Act.

Ebke said that the wide range of firearms regulations enacted by Nebraska communities has created confusion for residents who travel with guns throughout the state. Laws governing how a hunting rifle may be transported and stored in a vehicle may differ in rural and urban communities, she said, causing Nebraska citizens to unintentionally violate the law.

Statewide, uniform gun regulations based on the state’s constitution and laws override local gun ordinances, Ebke said, calling the bill a “common sense modification.”

Anna Kopperud of the National Rifle Association testified in support of the bill. She said very few states still allow communities to set individual gun ordinances because of the confusion it causes.

“This patchwork [of gun regulations] makes compliance very difficult and almost impossible for responsible gun owners,” Kopperud said.

Marty Bilek of the Omaha mayor’s office agreed. In his testimony supporting the bill, he said numerous community ordinances sometimes are at odds with state gun ownership requirements.

“Cities and municipalities have made gun ownership unnecessarily cumbersome,” Bilek said.

Representing the Nebraska chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Jan Hobbs testified in opposition to the bill. Community officials who attempt to enforce outdated local gun regulations would be vulnerable to costly lawsuits by gun rights organizations, she said. Common sense should guide how firearms are governed in individual cities, she said, not state mandates.

“Gun laws should not be ‘one size fits all,’” Hobbs said.

Courtney Lawton, a public school teacher, also spoke in opposition to the bill, saying statewide gun regulations deprive local officials and voters of their authority to decide what is best for their communities. She said local government and law enforcement officials who are the most familiar with the residents they serve should make and enforce gun regulations.

“Different cities have different needs,” Lawton said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.