LINCOLN, Neb (KMTV) — Senator Tom Brewer of District 43 has served in the legislature since 2017 and throughout his tenure, he has had his sights on something he and his supporters have called "Constitutional Carry."
Or more simply put, concealed carry with no permit required.
“The people that are in the hallway and behind me, have been great about coming to support the idea of "Constitutional Carry" in Nebraska. But as many times as I’ve burned priority bills, as much as I’ve tried to bring it back we have not made progress on it,” said Brewer.
The latest attempt to remove concealed carry permits is LB77.
The bill is almost identical to bills introduced in 2021 and 2022 but this year it removes exemptions for the cities of Lincoln and Omaha found in previous bills.
The idea behind the bill is simple, the 2nd amendment is a constitutional right and any efforts to hinder that, whether through a permitting process or permit fees, are unconstitutional.
“We have the bill of rights and none of those rights is there a provision where we have to pay a fee and get permission to exercise that right, except the second amendment,” said one testifier at Thursday’s hearing.
Supporters of the bill weren’t just supporters of more gun rights, but members of the legal community as well who feel the law isn’t being applied equally across the state.
“Some people might say Lincoln and Omaha are different we should give them the discretion to have these sort of looser standards. We would submit that is exactly what’s wrong. When you have an arbitrary listing and these amorphous ordinances it leads to what we regularly see as ad hoc, inconsistent application of the law,” said Spike Eicholt with the Nebraska Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys.
Opponents argue that opening up concealed carry to anyone makes communities less safe and feel the bill takes control away from local governments.
“We also stand for local governance and this bill takes away the ability for cities to have safe storage. It lowers the minimum age and lets 18-year-olds carry concealed handguns in some cases. It does a lot of bad things,” said Melody Vaccaro with Nebraskans Against Gun Violence.
If it were to be passed the bill would also bar Lincoln and Omaha from operating their own gun registries, something that law enforcement says will only make it harder to keep their communities safe.
“The ordinance helps us prevent the mentally ill, substance abusers and known criminals from buying a firearm,” said Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.
In years past a lack of consensus from conservative Senators prevented the bills from advancing.
In 2022 the bill was just two votes shy of advancing past a second debate but the bill could find new momentum with this session's new slate of Senators and a growing conservative majority in the Unicameral
“You have this debate between what I call the don’t tread on me republicans and the law and order republicans and it's a good debate to have. I want both to be in the party so they can both be happy and people feel safe. But also make sure that if we say we are pro-constitution that we follow through and get this passed,” said Stephan Bader, Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska.
Thursday’s hearing was only focused on gathering testimony and the bill has not yet been scheduled for a debate.
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