Senators debate conceal-carry bill

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By NATE JENKINS / Lincoln Journal Star

Lawmakers supporting a bill that would allow residents to carry concealed handguns have often cited the fact that most states provide such a right and that it’s time for Nebraska to enter the mainstream.

If approved, the bill now before state senators would achieve that goal — but it may also put Nebraska into another minority.

Nebraska could become the only state among others with similar laws to allow its cities to ban concealed guns.

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“I don’t know of one that allows cities to opt out” of state law allowing those with proper permits to carry concealed handguns, said Keith Wood, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. Wood, who has been at the Capitol pushing for the bill (LB454), said 38 states have laws similar to the one the Legislature is considering.

It already has passed one of three rounds and could receive a second-round vote today. Senators debated the bill for a few hours Thursday and Lincoln officials — namely Mayor Coleen Seng — were in the middle of the conversation.

Seng and Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady wrote a letter last month expressing the city’s opposition to the bill. In it, they said if more people are encouraged to carry firearms “it is logical to expect that more incidents involving guns will occur.”

“We can recall only one incident in the past 30 years in which a citizen armed with a concealed handgun prevented himself from becoming the victim of a violent crime in Lincoln,” the letter says. Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey also sent lawmakers a letter expressing opposition to the bill.

Seng was sharply criticized by Sen. Adrian Smith of Gering, who said that he hoped Seng “somehow gets over the urge to know what’s in people’s pockets.”

Sen. DiAnna Schimek of Lincoln, one of the leading critics of the conceal-carry bill, rose to Seng’s defense a few times Thursday. “She is giving her best judgment, Senator Smith,” Schimek said at one point.

Opposition from the state’s two largest cities suggests the possibility that either, or both, might consider responding to a conceal-carry law by passing their own ordinances banning the practice.

Schimek raised the question in January of whether the bill would prevent cities from passing their own ordinances, and some lawmakers at the time described the apparent ambiguity as a weakness in the bill that needed remedied.

Sen. Jeanne Combs of Milligan, who introduced LB454, acknowledged Thursday that the bill may leave the door open for cities to ban conceal-carry. She has crafted an amendment that would prohibit them from doing so, but it appears unlikely the Legislature will get a chance to consider it as it is buried under a stack of amendments.

It was unclear Thursday whether the bill’s lack of a provision to preempt cities would hurt chances of it passing. Senators on Thursday covered some of the same ground tread before.

The issue has been before the body over the past decade.

“The bad guys won’t know who will be armed and who won’t be, and we’ll all benefit from that,” said Combs, who touts an aspect of the bill that would require handgun training before getting a permit and statistics that show crime doesn’t increase when such laws pass.

Chambers said it was “sheer stupidity” to say that the way to solve crime in areas with lots of guns is to allow more guns.

Reach Nate Jenkins at 473-7223 or njenkins@journalstar.com.

How would law work?

Eligibility:

* At least 21 years old.

* No felony record.

* Can’t have been officially deemed mentally ill and dangerous within past 10 years.

* No offenses related to firearms or controlled substances within past 10 years.

* Must have a permit. Conceal-carry permits would only be issued to those who meet eligibility requirements and complete a safety and training course. Training would include: Safe handling of a gun and ammunition; shooting fundamentals; laws pertaining to handguns; ways to avoid criminal attacks and defuse violent confrontations; proper storage of handguns.

Where you couldn’t carry a gun:

The bill would prohibit people from taking guns into law enforcement facilities, prisons, courtrooms, polling places, government meetings, financial institutions, athletic events, schools, places of worship, political rallies and businesses with liquor licenses that derive more than half their income from alcohol sales. Also, employers and property owners could prohibit concealed handguns.