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LEGISLATIVE BILL 77
Approved by the Governor April 25, 2023
Introduced by Brewer, 43; Aguilar, 35; Albrecht, 17; Ballard, 21; Bostelman,
23; Brandt, 32; Briese, 41; Clements, 2; DeKay, 40; Dorn, 30;
Dover, 19; Erdman, 47; Halloran, 33; Hansen, B., 16; Hardin, 48;
Holdcroft, 36; Hughes, 24; Ibach, 44; Jacobson, 42; Linehan, 39;
Lippincott, 34; Lowe, 37; Moser, 22; Murman, 38; Sanders, 45;
Slama, 1.
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to firearms; to amend sections 14-102, 15-255,
16-227, 17-556, 18-1703, 28-1205, 69-2429, 69-2435, 69-2439, 69-2440,
69-2441, 69-2442, 69-2443, and 69-2445, Reissue Revised Statutes of
Nebraska, and sections 28-101, 28-1201, 28-1202, 28-1351, 28-1354, and
69-2436, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to prohibit regulation of weapons by cities, villages, and counties; to provide for the carrying of a concealed handgun without a permit; to change provisions relating to other concealed weapons; to provide for requirements, limits,
and offenses relating to carrying a concealed handgun; to provide an
affirmative defense; to create the offense of carrying a firearm or
destructive device during the commission of a dangerous misdemeanor; to change provisions of the Concealed Handgun Permit Act; to provide penalties; to change, provide, and eliminate definitions; to harmonize provisions; and to repeal the original sections.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
Section 1. Section 18-1703, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is amended to read:
18-1703 (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the regulation of the ownership, possession, storage, transportation, sale, and transfer of firearms and other weapons is a matter of statewide concern.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of any home rule charter, counties,
cities, and villages shall not have the power to:
(a) Regulate the ownership, possession, storage, transportation, sale, or transfer of firearms or other weapons, except as expressly provided by state law; or
(b) Require registration of firearms or other weapons.
(3) Any county, city, or village ordinance, permit, or regulation in
violation of subsection (2) of this section is declared to be null and void.
Cities and villages shall not have the power to regulate the ownership,
possession, or transportation of a concealed handgun, as such ownership,
possession, or transportation is authorized under the Concealed Handgun Permit Act, except as expressly provided by state law, and shall not have the power to
require registration of a concealed handgun owned, possessed, or transported by
a permitholder under the act. Any existing city or village ordinance, permit,
or regulation regulating the ownership, possession, or transportation of a concealed handgun, as such ownership, possession, or transportation is
authorized under the act, except as expressly provided under state law, and any existing city or village ordinance, permit, or regulation requiring the registration of a concealed handgun owned, possessed, or transported by a permitholder under the act, is declared to be null and void as against any permitholder possessing a valid permit under the act.
Sec. 2. Section 14-102, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is amended to read:
14-102 In addition to the powers granted in section 14-101, cities of the metropolitan class shall have power by ordinance:
(1) To levy any tax or special assessment authorized by law;
(2) To provide a corporate seal for the use of the city, and also any official seal for the use of any officer, board, or agent of the city, whose duties require an official seal to be used. Such corporate seal shall be used in the execution of municipal bonds, warrants, conveyances, and other instruments and proceedings as required by law;
(3) To provide all needful rules and regulations for the protection and preservation of health within the city, including providing for the enforcement of the use of water from public water supplies when the use of water from other sources shall be deemed unsafe;
(4) To appropriate money and provide for the payment of debts and expenses of the city;
(5) To adopt all such measures as may be deemed necessary for the accommodation and protection of strangers and the traveling public in person and property;
(6) To punish and prevent the carrying of concealed weapons, except the carrying of a concealed handgun in compliance with the Concealed Handgun Permit Act, and the discharge of firearms, fireworks, or explosives of any description within the city, other than the discharge of firearms at a shooting range pursuant to the Nebraska Shooting Range Protection Act;
(7) To regulate the inspection and sale of meats, flour, poultry, fish,
milk, vegetables, and all other provisions or articles of food exposed or
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offered for sale in the city;
(8) To require all elected or appointed officers to give bond and security for the faithful performance of their duties, except that no officer shall become bonded and secured upon the official bond of another or upon any bond executed to the city;
(9) To require from any officer of the city at any time a report, in detail, of the transactions of his or her office or any matter connected with such office;
(10) To provide for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals;
(11) To regulate, license, or prohibit the running at large of dogs and other animals within the city as well as in areas within the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction of the city; to guard against injuries or annoyance from such dogs and other animals; and to authorize the destruction of such dogs and other animals when running at large contrary to the provisions of any ordinance. Any licensing provision shall comply with subsection (2) of section
54-603 for service animals;
(12) To provide for keeping sidewalks clean and free from obstructions and accumulations; to provide for the assessment and collection of taxes on real estate and for the sale and conveyance thereof; and to pay the expenses of
keeping the sidewalk adjacent to such real estate clean and free from obstructions and accumulations as provided by law;
(13) To provide for the planting and protection of shade or ornamental and useful trees upon streets or boulevards; to assess the cost of such trees to
the extent of benefits upon the abutting property as a special assessment; to provide for the protection of birds and animals and their nests; to provide for the trimming of trees located upon streets and boulevards or when the branches of trees overhang streets and boulevards when in the judgment of the mayor and city council such trimming is made necessary to properly light such street or
boulevard or to furnish proper police protection; and to assess the cost of
such trimming upon the abutting property as a special assessment;
(14) To provide for, regulate, and require the numbering or renumbering of
houses along public streets or avenues; and to care for and control and to name and rename streets, avenues, parks, and squares within the city;
(15) To require weeds and worthless vegetation growing upon any lot or
piece of ground within the city or its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction to
be cut and destroyed so as to abate any nuisance occasioned by such vegetation;
to prohibit and control the throwing, depositing, or accumulation of litter on
any lot or piece of ground within the city or its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction; to require the removal of such litter so as to abate any nuisance occasioned thereby. If the owner fails to cut and destroy weeds and worthless vegetation or remove litter, or both, after notice as required by ordinance,
the city may assess the cost of such destruction or removal upon the lots or
lands as a special assessment. The required notice may be by publication in the official newspaper of the city and may be directed in general terms to the owners of lots and lands affected without naming such owners;
(16) To prohibit and regulate the running at large or the herding or
driving of domestic animals, such as hogs, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, fowls,
or animals of any kind or description within the corporate limits; to provide for the impounding of all animals running at large, herded, or driven contrary to such prohibition and regulations; and to provide for the forfeiture and sale of animals impounded to pay the expense of taking up, caring for, and selling such impounded animals, including the cost of advertising and fees of officers;
(17) To regulate the transportation of articles through the streets and to
prevent injuries to the streets from overloaded vehicles;
(18) To prevent or regulate any amusement or practice having a tendency to
annoy persons passing in the streets or on the sidewalks; and to regulate the use of vehicles propelled by steam, gas, electricity, or other motive power,
operated on the streets of the city;
(19) To regulate or prohibit the transportation and keeping of gunpowder,
oils, and other combustible and explosive articles;
(20) To regulate, license, or prohibit the sale of domestic animals or of goods, wares, and merchandise at public auction on the streets, alleys,
highways, or any public ground within the city;
(21) To regulate and prevent the use of streets, sidewalks, and public grounds for signs, posts, awnings, awning posts, scales, or other like purposes; and to regulate and prohibit the exhibition or carrying or conveying of banners, placards, advertisements, or the distribution or posting of
advertisements or handbills in the streets or public grounds or upon the sidewalks;
(22) To provide for the punishment of persons disturbing the peace by
noise, intoxication, drunkenness, or fighting, or otherwise violating the public peace by indecent or disorderly conduct or by lewd and lascivious behavior;
(23) To provide for the punishment of vagrants, tramps, street beggars,
prostitutes, disturbers of the peace, pickpockets, gamblers, burglars, thieves,
persons who practice any game, trick, or device with intent to swindle, and trespassers upon private property;
(24) To prohibit, restrain, and suppress houses of prostitution, opium joints, gambling houses, prize fighting, dog fighting, cock fighting, and other disorderly houses and practices, all games and gambling, and all kinds of
indecencies; to regulate and license or prohibit the keeping and use of
billiard tables, bowling alleys, shooting galleries except as provided in the Nebraska Shooting Range Protection Act, and other similar places of amusement;
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and to prohibit and suppress all lotteries and gift enterprises of all kinds under whatsoever name carried on, except that nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to apply to bingo, lotteries, lotteries by the sale of pickle cards, or raffles conducted in accordance with the Nebraska Bingo Act, the Nebraska Lottery and Raffle Act, the Nebraska Pickle Card Lottery Act, the Nebraska Small Lottery and Raffle Act, or the State Lottery Act;
(25) To make and enforce all police regulations for the good government,
general welfare, health, safety, and security of the city and the citizens of
the city in addition to the police powers expressly granted by law; in the exercise of the police power, to pass all needful and proper ordinances and impose fines, forfeitures, and penalties for the violation of any ordinance; to provide for the recovery, collection, and enforcement of such fines; and in
default of payment to provide for confinement in the city or county prison or
other place of confinement as may be provided by ordinance;
(26) To prevent immoderate driving on the street;
(27) To establish and maintain public libraries, art galleries, and museums and to provide the necessary grounds or buildings for such libraries,
galleries, and museums; to purchase books, papers, maps, manuscripts, works of
art, and objects of natural or of scientific curiosity and instruction for such libraries, galleries, and museums; to receive donations and bequests of money or property for such libraries, galleries, and museums in trust or otherwise;
and to pass necessary bylaws and regulations for the protection and government of such libraries, art galleries, and museums;
(28) To erect, designate, establish, maintain, and regulate hospitals,
houses of correction, jails, station houses, fire engine houses, asphalt repair plants, and other necessary buildings; to erect, designate, establish,
maintain, and regulate plants for the removal, disposal, or recycling of
garbage and refuse or to make contracts for garbage and refuse removal,
disposal, or recycling, or all of the same; and to charge equitable fees for such removal, disposal, or recycling, or all of the same, except as provided by
law. The fees collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be credited to a single fund to be used exclusively by the city for the removal, disposal, or recycling of garbage and refuse, or all of the same, including any costs incurred for collecting the fee. Before any contract for such removal,
disposal, or recycling is let, the city council shall make specifications for such contract, bids shall be advertised for as now provided by law, and the contract shall be let to the lowest and best bidder, who shall furnish bond to
the city conditioned upon his or her carrying out the terms of the contract,
the bond to be approved by the city council. Nothing in this section, and no
contract or regulation made by the city council, shall be so construed as to prohibit any person, firm, or corporation engaged in any business in which garbage or refuse accumulates as a byproduct from selling, recycling, or otherwise disposing of his, her, or its garbage or refuse or hauling such garbage or refuse through the streets and alleys under such uniform and reasonable regulations as the city council may by ordinance prescribe for the removal and hauling of garbage or refuse;
(29) To erect and establish market houses and market places and to provide for the erection of all other useful and necessary buildings for the use of the city and for the protection and safety of all property owned by the city. Such market houses, market places, and buildings may be located on any street,
alley, or public ground or on land purchased for such purpose;
(30) To prohibit the establishment of additional cemeteries within the limits of the city; to regulate the registration of births and deaths; to direct the keeping and returning of bills of mortality; and to impose penalties on physicians, sextons, and others for any default in the premises;
(31) To provide for the inspection of steam boilers, electric light appliances, pipefittings, and plumbings; to regulate their erection and construction; to appoint inspectors; and to declare their powers and duties,
except as otherwise provided by law;
(32) To enact a fire code and regulate the erection of all buildings and other structures within the corporate limits; to provide for the removal of any buildings or structures or additions to buildings or structures erected contrary to such code or regulations and to provide for the removal of
dangerous buildings; but no such code or regulation shall be suspended or
modified by resolution, nor shall exceptions be made by ordinance or resolution in favor of any person, firm, or corporation or concerning any particular lot or building; to direct that when any building has been damaged by fire, decay,
or otherwise, to the extent of fifty percent of the value of a similar new building above the foundation, shall be torn down or removed; to prescribe the manner of ascertaining such damages and to assess the cost of removal of any building erected or existing contrary to such code or regulations against the lot or real estate upon which such building or structure is located or shall be
erected or to collect such costs from the owner of any such building or
structure; and to enforce the collection of such costs by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction;
(33) To regulate the construction, use, and maintenance of party walls, to prescribe and regulate the thickness, strength, and manner of constructing stone, brick, wood, or other buildings and the size and shape of brick and other material placed in such buildings; to prescribe and regulate the construction and arrangement of fire escapes and the placing of iron and metallic shutters and doors in or on such fire escapes; to provide for the inspection of elevators; to prescribe, regulate, and provide for the inspection of all plumbing, pipefitting, or sewer connections in all houses or buildings
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now or hereafter erected; to regulate the size, number, and manner of
construction of halls, doors, stairways, seats, aisles, and passageways of
theaters and buildings of a public character, whether now built or hereafter to
be built, so that there may be convenient, safe, and speedy exit in case of
fire; to prevent the dangerous construction and condition of chimneys,
fireplaces, hearths, stoves, stovepipes, ovens, boilers, and heating appliances used in or about any building and to cause such appliances to be removed or
placed in safe condition when they are considered dangerous; to prevent the deposit of ashes in unsafe places and to cause such buildings and enclosures as
may be in a dangerous state to be put in a safe condition; to prevent the disposing of and delivery or use in any building or other structure of
unsuitable building material within the city limits and provide for the inspection of building materials; to provide for the abatement of dense volumes of smoke; to regulate the construction of areaways, stairways, and vaults and to regulate partition fences; and to enforce proper heating and ventilation of
buildings used for schools or other buildings where large numbers of persons are liable to congregate;
(34) To regulate levees, depots and depot grounds, and places for storing freight and goods and to provide for and regulate the laying of tracks and the passage of railways through the st