Beatrice City Council

[ranger04]

It was psoted on www.ccwne.com that Beatrice city council overturned thier ban on concealed carry in Beatrice. One more down Gents!

[Jay]

I hope this is true.

I can't seem to copy and paste the story, but here is a link from the Beatrice Daily Sun:

http://www.beatricedailysun.com/articles/2009/02/17/news/local/doc499ad6b1ab1ee619445584.txt

Nothing is mentioned about the concealed carry ordinance. Either the paper doesn't want to report it (which wouldn't surprise me), or it didn't happen, or they are planning on writing a separate article about it which hasn't shown up on the net yet.

Will need to get a copy of the meeting minutes.

Was there anyone there that can verify this?

[ranger04]

I attempted to make several call to city administrators  to confirm but keep getting bounced around. I got a lot of voice mail...I looked at city ordinaces regarding firearms at present CCW is banned and if you sell or transfer a firearms to another person you have to notify the Chief of Police in writing within 24 hours with a description of the firearm and from whom to whom .. Big Brother is watching

[Randy]

The city?s concealed weapons ordinance will be on the table for discussion Monday night as the Beatrice City Council mulls latest ruling from the attorney general?s office.

City Code: An ordinance to repeal section 2-67 of the Beatrice City Code, which states that items will be placed on the agenda by the mayor or at least four council members, died.
It was a split vote among council members and the mayor opted to not vote on it.

Unreal!
Sec. 2-67.  Placing matters on the agenda.
Except as to an ordinance to be introduced by a member of the council pursuant to section 2-77, the mayor shall determine the business to be placed on the council meeting agenda; provided, any four (4) city council members may also place any matter on the formal agenda for a council meeting.
(Ord. No. 01-48, ? 7, 10-15-2001)


Currenr Law
Sec. 17-111.  Carrying concealed weapon.
(a)   Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who carries a weapon or weapons concealed on or about his person such as a revolver, pistol, bowie knife, dirk or knife with a dirk blade attachment, brass or iron knuckles, or any other deadly weapon commits the offense of carrying a concealed weapon.
(b)   It shall be an affirmative defense that the defendant was engaged in any lawful business, calling or employment at the time he was carrying any weapon or weapons and the circumstances in which such person was placed at the time were such as to justify a prudent person in carrying the weapon or weapons for the defense of his person, property or family.
(c)   Carrying a concealed weapon is a misdemeanor.
(Code 1971, ? 23-59)
State law references:  Power of city to punish the carrying of concealed weapons, R.R.S. 1943,? 16-227; concealed weapons generally, R.R.S. 1943, ? 28-1202. 

Reference: http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=10398&sid=27

[Jay]

Well, I am optimistic as the original poster on ccwne.com said the meeting was broadcast on the local public access channel, so sounds like the reports are true. I would still like to see it in writing, though.

I can't believe the paper would print a paragraph about how an ordinance pertaining to agenda items was not repealed, but would leave out any mention of the concealed handgun ordinance getting repealed.

[Randy]

Quote below from Mayor of Beatrice, NE

"The City ordinance in question has been in effect since 1971.  It bans concealed weapons of all kinds, not just hand guns.  The Council referred the ordinance to a committee to make recommendations as to how to clean up the language or possibly repeal in light of the recent AG opinion.  It will return to full Council sometime in April.  In the meantime the sanction against concealed hand guns is not being enforced.  The local paper will probably carry a story on it tomorrow.  That is not an unusual practice for them to pick a story of interest in report on it separately."

[Wymore Wrangler]

I called the City Administrators office today because I couldn't find anything out from the local paper or radio station on wheter or not they took action on it.  I spoke with the lady that took the minutes last night at the council meeting, it was returned to committee.  So basically no action was taken.  Her impressions of the councilmens discussions were they were concerned still with knife, brass knuckles, etc.  Seems to me, all they would have needed to do was insert a the phrase "CCW holders exempt".

[Wymore Wrangler]

Jay, I spoke with a lady at the Beatrice Daily Sun, she was very positive on the issue, but the Beatrice Daily Sun is a posted building, when paying my subscription, the lady's say the corporate office made them do it...

[Wymore Wrangler]

Hot off the press, from the Beatrice Daily Sun, the no concealed carry signs are coming down in Beatrice...


http://www.beatricedailysun.com/articles/2009/02/18/news/local/doc499c255c139dd013682601.txt

[Aldo]

Hot off the press, from the Beatrice Daily Sun, the no concealed carry signs are coming down in Beatrice...
http://www.beatricedailysun.com/articles/2009/02/18/news/local/doc499c255c139dd013682601.txt

Great news, WW!  Thank you for following up on that with us.

Hey, those signs can be hot items....E-BAY!!!!!

[Randy]

Concealed weapon signs coming down
By Joelyn Hansen/Daily Sun staff writer
Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 - 09:19:53 am CST

Signs noting the city?s ban on concealed weapons will be taken down and the 1971 ordinance on banned concealed weapons will be sent to committee for review.

No official action was taken Monday night by the Beatrice City Council on the issue of concealed weapons. But, there was a consensus among the council that the ordinance needed to be reviewed.

It was also decided that signs posted at the city limits noting the city?s ban on concealed weapons would be taken down, due to the fact that according to the Nebraska Attorney General, state statute permitting concealed weapons does not allow for city?s to ban permitted concealed weapons.

Since the law could not be enforced by the city, the signs are no longer needed.

The concealed weapons ordinance was brought to the table for discussion by Councilman Jason Moore who believed it was time to revisit and clean-up the ordinance to be clearer and reflective of current times and not of 1971.

?I?m not asking to move mountains, I?m asking to change verbiage,? Moore said. ?We need to take a look at this ordinance and straighten it up.?

Moore noted that he would like to see the ordinance have further explanation on what weapons were banned as it is too vague.

Councilman Alan Fetty agreed that the verbiage in the ordinance should be looked at. He didn?t necessarily agree that the signs were an issue.

Most citizens understand that the city cannot supersede state law, he said

[Wymore Wrangler]

"Most citizens understand that the city cannot supersede state law, he said"

The Beatrice Chief of Police doesn't understand this...  And I had to go to Beatrice and check, yep the signs are already down...