Gun-ban signs will soon be a common sight

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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

You’ll soon be seeing the signs —a universal red circle with a slash across a handgun — on the doors of businesses and other buildings across the state.

The message: No guns here.

During the next year, almost 20,000 Nebraskans are expected to get a permit allowing them to carry a concealed handgun.

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A ‘No guns allowed’ sign prototype is available from the Nebraska State Patrol.

A ‘No guns allowed’ sign prototype is available from the Nebraska State Patrol.

Businesses that don’t want weapons in their building are required to post “conspicuous notice” that handguns are banned.

You’ll be seeing signs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, where a gun ban is not new.

You will not see them at Wal-Mart. The company does not post signs banning concealed weapons in states with concealed-carry laws, according to an e-mail from a corporate media manager.

There will be multiple signs around the UNL campus to comply with the “conspicuous notice” of state law, said UNL Police Chief Owen Yardley. 

In anticipation of the new law allowing private citizens to carry handguns, the university has already started reminding people through internal notices that guns are not allowed anywhere on campus.

Weapons are not allowed in offices, classroom buildings or university vehicles, Yardley said.

The law goes into effect Jan. 2, but Yardley said education needed to start before that.

Guns are automatically banned by state law from more than a dozen kinds of businesses, including banks and bars.

But other businesses will be making individual decisions.

Businesses can also ban guns in employer-owned vehicles.

The state Department of Administrative Services has just begun to look at the issue, said Gerry Oligmueller, acting DAS director. The state’s bargaining agreement prohibits employees from having guns at work, he said.

Last summer, Lincoln’s City Council moved to ban weapons in all buildings owned or occupied by the city or county.

So signs will be going up at buildings across the city — recreation centers, senior centers, Lancaster Manor, Trabert Hall, said City Attorney Dana Roper.

Taking a gun into a posted building is a Class III misdemeanor punishable by three months in jail and a $500 fine. 

Eventually the signs, so noticeable at first, become familiar, according to people in states with similar laws. 

 “You tend to walk right by them and not notice,” said Tom Hesse, vice president for government relations for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Concealed carry became law three years ago in Minnesota.

Many   Minneapolis office buildings are posted with the no handgun signs, but not many retail stores ban guns, he said. 

Some businesses with tight security have a second reminder.   The no-gun emblem is on the back of the access cards given to employees and guests, he said. 

Sign suggestions

State law simply requires a “conspicuous notice.” The Nebraska State Patrol suggests a standardized format: a 4-inch circle with a slash covering a handgun and text giving notice.

The patrol recommends posting the sign at eye level, which is 54 to 66 inches from the ground, at each public entrance to a building.

State law bans guns in these places:

* Police, sheriff or state patrol offices

* Detention facilities, prisons or jails

* Courtrooms or buildings containing a courtroom. (That includes the Capitol, where the Supreme Court holds its hearings.)

* Polling places during an election

* At government meetings (including city councils, county boards, school boards, Legislature)

* Financial institutions

* Professional, semi-professional or collegiate athletic events

* Schools, school grounds, school-owned vehicles or school- sponsored activities or athletic events 

* Places of worship

* Emergency rooms or trauma centers

* Political rallies or fundraisers

* Businesses that derive more than  half their income from the sale of liquor.

People who are drinking are also not allowed to have concealed weapons.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com