Nebraska Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Underscore Urgent Need for Action on Gun Safety During Annual Advocacy Day in the Capitol

Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers Call on Lawmakers to Reject LB 155, LB 686, and LB 687 on Annual Advocacy Day

LINCOLN, Neb. — Today, the Nebraska chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statement following a day of action yesterday at the State Capitol. Gun Safety advocates met with lawmakers, urging them to vote against dangerous gun bills, including LB 155, which would change Nebraska’s current self-defense law, allowing a person to use lethal force when they could safely avoid doing so if in or around their automobile. 

“We are at the statehouse today to show the Nebraska legislature we will not back down in our fight to end gun violence in our beloved state,” said Katie Townley, lead with the Nebraska chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Time and time again, our communities are shaken by senseless acts of gun violence that have invaded what should be our safe places. These incidents don’t represent the values of Nebraskans, but they are a consequence of our state’s weak gun laws– laws that allow hate to be armed with a gun. Our movement will not stop fighting for the values that built Nebraska and our country: freedom and equality for all, but true freedom eludes us as long as we live in fear of gun violence.”  

Here’s a snapshot of the dangerous gun-related bills Nebraska legislators are advancing this session

• LB 155, legislation to change Nebraska’s current self-defense law to allow a person to use lethal force when they could safely avoid doing so if in or around their automobile.  Currently, Nebraska has a traditional self defense law which does not require a person to retreat before using lethal force in one’s home, but does require a person to retreat before using lethal force in public. This bill would expand the locations where a person could use lethal force without being required to retreat to that person’s automobile.  These laws increase gun violence by emboldening people to shoot first and ask questions later;

• LB 686, legislation to prohibit governmental entities from keeping registries of firearm ownership and purchases and penalize financial institutions from using codes to categorize firearms or ammunition-related purchases, and;

• LB 687, legislation to prohibit public entities from doing business with companies that decline to do business with the gun industry. Instead of prioritizing the best value to taxpayers, this bill would force the government to deny value to the public for reasons entirely unrelated to their contract while at the same time punishing companies for trying to protect public safety.

Nebraska lacks foundational gun safety laws – ranking 25th in the country for gun law strength in Everytown’s 2024 Gun Law Rankings. In 2023 Nebraska lawmakers passed a law to repeal the requirement to obtain a permit to carry hidden, loaded firearms in public as well as a law to prevent localities from enacting their own gun safety policies in the state.  More information about gun violence in Nebraska is available here.