Nebraska Supreme Court to weigh part of handgun restrictions lawsuit against Lincoln
Local restrictions on handguns are at issue in a lawsuit headed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. (Courtesy of Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor)
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on whether a group of gun owners needs to run afoul of Lincoln weapons ordinances and an executive order by Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird before suing the city for enacting them.
The Nebraska Firearms Owners Association, with help from the now-Texas-based Liberty Justice Center, sued the Cities of Lincoln and Omaha in December 2023, claiming in separate lawsuits that the cities had overstepped their legal authority to regulate guns under state law.
Both lawsuits make similar but slightly different arguments based on the passage of Legislative Bill 77 from 2023, then-State Sen. Tom Brewer's law legalizing concealed carry of handguns without a permit or state-mandated training.
A section of that law curbed the authority of cities governed by home-rule charters to restrict guns more stringently than the state. Both Omaha and Lincoln had used that bit of local control in the past to regulate guns and gang violence.
After LB 77 became law, both cities tried to maintain bans on handguns in city parks and buildings and onto trails. Gaylor Baird and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert defended the measures as necessary for public safety.
Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie has argued that the mayor and city took action to preserve the safety and quality of life in Lincoln and complied with state law. Omaha City Attorney Matt Kuhse had argued Omaha acted legally.
Christie had no immediate comment Monday through a spokesman.
A district judge in Douglas County prevented Omaha from enforcing Stothert's gun-related executive order until the case can be heard, likely sometime this year. The Lincoln case has been bogged down in procedural questions.
The question in the Lincoln case that the Supreme Court agreed this month to take up is whether a lower court erred in saying the Nebraska gun owners lacked legal standing to sue the city until a member is prosecuted for violating the order or ordinances.
Lawyers for Liberty Justice Center argued in a filing that they should not have to wait to be prosecuted because the existence of the order and ordinances has made gun owners change their behavior in places governed by the city's approach.
Patricia Harrold, president of the Nebraska Firearms Association, followed through on her testimony to the Omaha City Council that her organization would not let the cities flout the 2nd Amendment or state law.
'The laws and constitutions of Nebraska and the United States apply in Lincoln and Omaha just like they do in the rest of the state…,' Harrold said. 'They are entitled to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.'
Jacob Huebert, president of the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement that his team looked forward to proving that Nebraska's 2023 law prohibits local governments from restricting the 'right to carry … statewide.'
'We are pleased that the Nebraska Supreme Court considered this case important enough to review immediately, and we look forward to holding the mayor and the city accountable for their overreach,' Huebert said.
The state's high court has yet to set a date for the hearing
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