Nebraska Supreme Court to hear lawsuit challenging local firearms restrictions

The Nebraska Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Thursday in a lawsuit against the city of Lincoln over local firearm regulations that plaintiffs say are inconsistent with the state's constitutional carry law.

The plaintiffs in the case are the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association. The group is represented by the Liberty Justice Institute, a legal firm that describes itself as a "nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-interest litigation firm that seeks to protect economic liberty, private property rights, free speech, and other fundamental rights."  

Firm president Jacob Huebert says Nebraska "enacted a law that protects the right to bear arms statewide."

 “That law says that local governments can’t regulate firearms," he continued in a press release. The mayor of Lincoln has defied state law with this executive order, and we look forward to seeing the order and other city firearms regulations struck down.”

Lincoln city attorney Yohance Christie said in a 2023 statement that actions taken by the city were “to protect the safety and quality of life of our residents and visitors are in compliance with the law.”  

The State of Nebraska passed Legislative Bill 77, a statewide constitutional carry law that allows residents to carry firearms without a permit, in April 2023. The bill specifically declared local firearms regulations inconsistent with the new legislation to be void and prohibited local authorities from enforcing them.  

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird signed an executive order that banned all firearms from Lincoln city property, including parks and sidewalks.

The plaintiffs originally filed separate lawsuits against the cities of Lincoln and Omaha over local regulations prohibiting constitutional carry in public areas in December of 2023.  The lawsuit against Omaha resulted in the city's regulations being overturned in September, 2024.   

The Lincoln lawsuit was initially dismissed by a district court judge in Lancaster County. In January 2024 the state Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs' request to bypass the Nebraska Court of Appeals and review the lower court's dismissal of the case.