BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 8 months ago
US News & World Report:
A bill that would overturn most local gun ordinances that are more stringent than Nebraska state law cleared a key hurdle Wednesday despite protests from some Omaha and Lincoln area senators who raised public safety concerns.
Lawmakers gave initial approval to a gun-rights pre-emption bill 32-12, after supporters overcame a filibuster by opponents who want to preserve existing local rules.
Supporters said the bill would eliminate a confusing patchwork of local gun ordinances, particularly in Omaha and Lincoln. Critics in the Legislature argued the bill would allow gun-rights groups to sue cities which refuse to repeal their rules even if aren’t directly harmed.
“I have to imagine that some big, out-of-state group is going to try to come in and get attorneys’ fees,” said Sen. Matt Hansen of Lincoln.
Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, the bill’s lead sponsor, said the concerns about lawsuits were overblown and argued that statewide policies would stop local governments from infringing on gun rights.
“This does not expose cities to unnecessary liability,” he said. “If they follow state law, which they should, they will not be sued. And if they are sued, that means they’re not following state law.”
Cities, counties, towns and municipalities who infringe on God-given and constitutionally recognized rights should be exposed to liability and they should be sued.
As we’ve seen in our own discussions on this topic, no one can ever show that a local government attempts to loosen gun laws. The only thing they ever do is attempt to infringe to an even greater degree than the state on gun rights. Therefore, it makes good sense for states to do this in order to stop the collectivists and controllers who want to dictate every little detail of life within their borders.
So here is a note to these little dictators. Your borders aren’t sovereign. You aren’t allowed to control guns or anything else the state doesn’t allow you to control. Why don’t you stop worrying about this and figure out how to meet your obligations on all of those unfunded liabilities you have because of those ridiculous city worker pensions you agreed to.
Nebraska should proceed apace to make this the law of the state.
