Published Saturday | September 29, 2007
Broader concealed gun law is sought
BY LESLIE REED
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN ? The National Rifle Association and other gun advocates Friday urged state lawmakers to force Nebraska towns and cities to allow concealed handguns.
The 2006 state law permitting licensed Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns allows cities and towns to adopt their own ordinances regulating those weapons. At least 16 Nebraska cities and towns ban concealed weapons.
State Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial, who tried and failed earlier this year to pass the NRA legislation, said he would not offer a similar proposal in 2008.
He said he hoped to craft a compromise to establish more consistency among city ordinances.
Christensen would like to establish a uniform requirement for where guns can be legally stored out of sight in a vehicle, such as in the glove compartment, trunk or other locked area.
Otherwise, he said, travelers with concealed weapons permits could be required to constantly move their guns to comply with different legal requirements in urban areas or in communities along Interstate 80.
The Legislature's Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing Friday at the State Capitol on conflicting gun regulations across the state and how they were affected by the 2006 concealed weapons law.
Jordan Austin, a lobbyist for the NRA, argued for statewide "pre-emption" of all local firearms ordinances so that the Legislature would be solely responsible for the regulation of firearms and ammunition.
He said lawmakers did not intend for cities to supersede the 2006 law with their own regulations. The new law says "a permit to carry a concealed handgun is valid throughout the state."
Lynn Rex, executive director of the Nebraska League of Municipalities, contested Austin.
"This bill would have never passed without a local option (for cities to ban concealed handguns)," she said. "The NRA did not have the votes without it. It's just that simple."
Rex said members of her group are working to develop model ordinances so cities that ban concealed weapons have the same rules and cities that allow them have the same rules.
"We're willing to work with people, but we will not concede local option on concealed carry," she said.
A number of gun buffs testified at the hearing that they can inadvertently break the law just by crossing the street into another town or by driving through a community on a major highway.
Margaret Sheldon, a city administrator in Hemingford, Neb., is a certified NRA pistol instructor and is training to be a concealed handgun instructor.
She competes in cowboy action shooting, a form of competitive shooting that features guns and costumes from the Old West.
She said she often carries a gun.
"I do carry a gun, and I want it to be legal," she said. "I want to be legal, and I want to know what's legal."
