Bill would allow concealed guns in more locations

Public and private entities could allow for the concealed carry of handguns, regardless of local ordinance, under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee March 3.

LB769, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Tommy Garrett, would allow businesses and other entities to set their own policies pertaining to gun-free zones and concealed carry permit holders. Garrett said a 2014 Purdue Homeland Security Institute study showed mass shooters kill an average of three people per minute, while the average law enforcement response time is 10 minutes.

All but two mass shootings in the United States since 1950 have occurred in gun-free zones, Garrett said.

“In society we use laws to promote a just, fair and safe society,” he said. “Current law criminalizes Nebraskans’ rights to self and family protection. We need to enable law-abiding Nebraskans, not disable them.”

Entities where concealed carry currently is banned would be allowed to set their own policies, including government meetings, the Legislature, buildings which contain a courtroom, political rallies, polling places, schools, college campuses, hospitals, banks, places of worship, athletic events and bars.

Rod Moeller, representing the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, supported the bill. He said it makes no sense to authorize concealed carry in some locations but not others.

“Concealed handgun permit holders are some of the most law-abiding folks you’re going to find,” he said. “Just because [permit holders] cross into an establishment that has 58 percent of sales from liquor, doesn’t make us more dangerous.”

The bill also would enable the state or its political subdivisions to publicly auction firearms forfeited or abandoned to the state that are no longer needed as evidence or for any law enforcement purpose. The revenue generated by the auctions would be allocated exclusively for aid to schools.

The National Rifle Association supports the bill generally and the public auction provision specifically, said Katie Spohn.

“Political subdivisions routinely sell forfeited property to the law-abiding public,” she said. “This would limit the wasteful practice of destroying firearms that could be distributed for sale through authorized dealers.”

University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Faculty Senate President John Bender opposed the bill.
The Faculty Senate voted 45-2 to reject any proposal to allow the concealed carry of handguns on the UNL campus, Bender said, because college campuses are not an appropriate place for firearms.

“If LB769 were to pass, the question of whether firearms would be allowed on campus would inevitably become a campaign issue for every candidate for Board of Regents,” Bender said. “That would divert their attention and that of the voters from the issues that are central to the success and welfare of the entire university community.”

Marika Stone, an anesthesiologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, spoke in opposition to the bill.

“College life is rife with risk factors like alcohol and drugs. Mixing these with firearms can add an element of danger to an already insecure time in a child’s life,” Stone said. “We want to keep our children safe but the solution does not lie in adding more guns in sensitive areas.”

Rev. Gretchen Woods of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln also opposed the bill. She said the potential presence of concealed handguns would undermine the sanctity of traditional safe havens.

“[LB769] guts the protections of our sacred institutions—schools, places of worship—that serve our most vulnerable people,” she said. “The moral and ethical concept of sanctuary is at stake here. We should not allow our civil laws to decimate our moral laws.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.