Nebraska Firearms Owners Association Legislative Alert

Nebraska Firearms Owners Association Legislative Alert

Lincoln, NE –-(Ammoland.com)- Where does the time go? We had our Lobby Day almost 2 weeks ago and this is the first chance I’ve had to send out a much needed update.

First I do need to thank the 40 members who came to the legislature and visited with their Senators. From what I have been told our visit was well received and Senators hope we can have an even larger number of people participate next year.

Please share this article with you friends and hunting/shooting buddies, the more people we have letting our Senators know how they feel about this legislation the higher the chance that our position will prevail.

LB 298 – Victim Protection Act
LB 298 the Victim Protection Act, is still tied up in the Judiciary Committee. Senator Mark Christensen was going to make this his priority bill but since the committee failed to take action on it he was forced to choose another bill (LB 648). There has been allot of work put into trying to get the committee to accept an amended version, but so far they have not been accommodating so far. But we did have 4 Senators that have signed on as Co-Sponsors of LB 298. So please send a note thanking the following Senators for signing on as Co-Sponsors of LB298, be sure to include Senator Mark Christensen for initially introducing and sponsoring LB298.

• Co-Sponsor Sen. Colby Coash ccoash@leg.ne.gov
• Co-Sponsor Sen. Tony Fulton tfulton@leg.ne.gov
• Co-Sponsor Sen. Dave Bloomfield dbloomfield@leg.ne.gov
• Co-Sponsor Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh slautenbaugh@leg.ne.gov
• Co-Sponsor Sen. Tyson Larson tlarson@leg.ne.gov
• Sponsor Sen. Mark Christensen mchristensen@leg.ne.gov

Anyway, now is the time to keep up the pressure on the Judiciary Committee. Be sure to email or call the other FIVE Senators below on the Judiciary Committee, urging their vote and support for LB298. We want LB298 moved to General File for discussion on the floor of the legislature “this session.”

Senators Coash, Lautenbaugh and Larson are “THREE” indicated below Co-Sponsors already on the Judiciary Committee. So we know we have at least three committee votes.

Judiciary Committee Members

• Sen. Brad Ashford, Chairperson bashford@leg.ne.gov
• Sen. Colby Coash
• Sen. Brenda Council bcouncil@leg.ne.gov
• Sen. Burke Harr bharr@leg.ne.gov
• Sen. Tyson Larson
• Sen. Steve Lathrop slathrop@leg.ne.gov
• Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh
• Sen. Amanda McGill amcgill@leg.ne.gov

Of course don’t forget to contact your Senator to get them to support LB 298 and ask them to sign on as a co-sponsor, the more support shown for this bill the better chance we have of getting it out of the committee. If you need the contact information for your Senator you can find it here: www.nebraskalegislature.gov/senators/senator_find.php

Other Legislation we are tracking

• LR 40 CA The constitutional amendment to protect Hunting and Fishing has been placed on General file and made the Natural Resources Committee priority bill.
• LB442 the Outdoor Guide and License bill that we oppose has been indefinitely postponed by the Natural Resources Committee.
• LB 549 Introduced by Senator Brenda Council is still in committee and has been made the priority bill of Senator Chris Langemeier, this bill which the NFOA supports creates the Nebraska Youth Conservation Program which will get at risk youth involved with helping at our state parks. Any attempt to introduce our youth to the outdoors is something that can only be positive.
• LB697 that changes some hunting and fishing licensing rules, the NFOA is neutral on this bill, is out of committee with an amendment from the committee and referred to the floor of the legislature for debate.
• LB 41 which also makes some changes to hunting licensing rules the NFOA supports and it has also move to the second round of debate.
• LB 618 to allow off duty police to carry at schools has moved forward.
• LB 512 dealing with mental health records has moved to General File.
• LB 138 dealing with the 180 day waiting period to get a CCW sounds like it will move forward but the Judiciary Committee has been slow moving on things going forward
• LB 88 / LB 518 There is work ongoing to develop a bill that the Judiciary Committee will move forward. There is an offer on the table to reduce the sign size to 5×7 but require the mandatory placement, and some discussions on various changes to the punishment of a violation of the posting, the largest making it a non gun offense that does not cost you your CCW permit.
• LB 565 Senator Brad Ashford’s bill that places storage requirements on firearms, and creates the crime of “improper storage of a firearms” has it’s hear on March 17th

Then the problem bill LB 229 which strips 77 million from the Nebraska Environmental Trust over the next 11 years has also moved to the floor, and has been made the priority bill for Senator Tyson Larson from District 40. The NFOA has joined with the Nebraska Council of Sportsmen’s Clubs to strongly oppose this bill, it strip about 50% of the budget from the fund and gives that money over to a fund controlled by the Department of Natural Resources. This puts this money at the direct disposal of the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and he can use it without public input and without review of the proposed uses, unlike how these funds are used by the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

Regards,

Mission:
Nebraska Firearms Owners Association (NFOA) is organized for the purpose of voicing the opinion of its membership to the Nebraska Legislature and other law making bodies within the state as well as Federal level, as it pertains to firearms. NFOA members will also make it a priority to educate residents on firearms related issues.

On the web: www.NebraskaFirearms.org or email: nefirearms@gmail.com for more information.