Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LB17                                                                                     LB17
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                                LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
                             ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
                                     FIRST SESSION
                        LEGISLATIVE BILL 17
       Introduced by Dungan, 26.
       Read first time January 05, 2023
       Committee: Judiciary
   A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to firearms; to amend section 28-1204.04,
      Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,    2022;    to authorize
      possession of    firearms on   school grounds by   full-time,   off-duty
      peace officers; and to repeal the original section.
  Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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        Section     1.    Section         28-1204.04,         Revised Statutes Cumulative
  Supplement, 2022, is amended to read:
         28-1204.04 (1) Any person who possesses a firearm in a school, on
   school grounds,      in    a school-owned vehicle,      or at   a school-sponsored
   activity or    athletic event is   guilty of   the offense of    unlawful
   possession of a firearm at a school. Unlawful possession of a firearm at
   a school is a Class IV felony. This subsection shall not apply to (a) the
   issuance of firearms to or possession by members of the armed forces of
  the United States, active or reserve, National Guard of this state, or
   Reserve Officers' Officers Training Corps or peace officers or other duly
   authorized law enforcement officers when on duty or training, (b) the
   possession of firearms by peace officers or other duly authorized law
   enforcement officers when contracted by    a school to    provide school
   security or school event control services, (c) the possession of firearms
   by full-time, off-duty peace officers, (d) firearms which may lawfully be
   possessed by the person receiving instruction, for instruction under the
   immediate supervision of an adult instructor, (e) (d) firearms which may
   lawfully be possessed by a member of a college or university firearm
   team, to include rifle, pistol, and shotgun disciplines, within the scope
   of such person's duties as a member of the team, (f) (e) firearms which
   may lawfully be possessed by a person employed by a college or university
   in this state as part of an agriculture or a natural resources program of
   such college or university, within the scope of such person's employment,
   (g)   (f)   firearms contained within   a private vehicle operated by   a
   nonstudent adult which are not loaded and (i) are encased or (ii) are in
   a locked firearm rack that is on a motor vehicle, (h) (g) firearms which
   may lawfully be possessed by a person for the purpose of using them, with
   the approval of the school, in a historical reenactment, in a hunter
   education program, or as part of an honor guard, or (i) (h) a handgun
   carried as a concealed handgun by a valid holder of a permit issued under
   the Concealed Handgun Permit Act in a vehicle or on his or her person
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LB17                                                                                                LB17
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   while riding in or on a vehicle into or onto any parking area, which is
   open to the public and used by a school if, prior to exiting the vehicle,
   the handgun is locked inside the glove box, trunk, or other compartment
   of the vehicle, a storage box securely attached to the vehicle, or, if
   the vehicle is   a motorcycle,    other than an   autocycle,    a hardened
   compartment securely attached to the motorcycle while the vehicle is in
   or on   such parking area,   except as    prohibited by    federal law.    For
   purposes of this subsection, encased means enclosed in a case that is
   expressly made for the purpose of containing a firearm and that is
   completely zipped, snapped, buckled, tied, or otherwise fastened with no
   part of the firearm exposed.
          (2) Any firearm possessed in violation of subsection (1) of this
   section shall be confiscated without warrant by a peace officer or may be
   confiscated without warrant by     school administrative or   teaching
   personnel. Any firearm confiscated by school administrative or teaching
   personnel shall be delivered to a peace officer as soon as practicable.
          (3) Any firearm confiscated by or given to a peace officer pursuant
   to subsection (2) of this section shall be declared a common nuisance and
   shall be held by the peace officer prior to his or her delivery of the
   firearm to the property division of the law enforcement agency which
   employs the peace officer. The property division of such law enforcement
   agency shall hold such firearm for as long as the firearm is needed as
   evidence. After the firearm is no longer needed as evidence, it shall be
   destroyed in such manner as the court may direct.
          (4) Whenever a firearm is confiscated and held pursuant to this
   section or    section   28-1204.02,        the peace officer who received such
   firearm shall cause to be filed within ten days after the confiscation a
   petition for destruction of such firearm. The petition shall be filed in
   the district court of the county in which the confiscation is made. The
   petition shall describe the firearm held, state the name of the owner, if
   known, allege the essential elements of the violation which caused the
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LB17                                                                                           LB17
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  confiscation, and conclude with a prayer for disposition and destruction
  in such manner as    the court may direct.   At any time after the
  confiscation of the firearm and prior to court disposition, the owner of
  the firearm seized may petition the district court of the county in which
  the confiscation was made for possession of the firearm. The court shall
  release the firearm to such owner only if the claim of ownership can
  reasonably be shown to be true and either (a) the owner of the firearm
  can show that the firearm was taken from his or her property or place of
  business unlawfully or without the knowledge and consent of the owner and
   that such property or place of business is different from that of the
  person from whom the firearm was confiscated or (b) the owner of the
   firearm is acquitted of the charge of unlawful possession of a handgun in
   violation of   section    28-1204,     unlawful transfer of   a firearm to   a
   juvenile, or unlawful possession of a firearm at a school. No firearm
   having significant antique value or historical significance as determined
   by the Nebraska State Historical Society shall be destroyed. If a firearm
   has significant antique value or historical significance, it shall be
   sold at auction and the proceeds shall be remitted to the State Treasurer
  for distribution in    accordance with Article VII,    section    5,   of the
  Constitution of Nebraska.
        Sec. 2.     Original section 28-1204.04, Revised Statutes Cumulative
  Supplement, 2022, is repealed.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 28-1204.04