When Nebraska finally adopted its permitless carry law back in 2023 after a multi-year fight in the unicameral legislature, critics were quick to predict that the measure would make the state a more dangerous place. The mayors of Omaha and Lincoln, along with their appointed police chiefs, were among the loudest voices of opposition. Then-mayor Jean Stothert even signed an executive order that, among other restrictions, banned firearms on all city property as a response to the law, with Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird following suit soon afterwards.
Nebraska's Attorney General issued an advisory opinion stating those executive orders were preempted by state law, adding that the orders’ ban on firearms in public spaces like parks, trails, and even city sidewalks is an infringement on the right to bear arms, and lawsuits challenging the ordinances were quickly filed (and are ongoing) by the Liberty Justice Center and the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association.
Omaha's ordinance has been subject to a preliminary injunction since February, 2024, and Stothert was replaced as mayor by John Ewing in May of this year. Ewing has been just as critical of permitless carry as his predecessor, and complained on Monday that Omaha should have been exempted from the permitless carry law.
Omaha police Executive Deputy Chief Scott Gray said some believe they don't have to declare their firearm to police under the permitless concealed carry law that went into effect in 2023.
The "duty to inform" police of a firearm is still in place, he said, though some may not understand because there is a "patchwork" of laws on the issue across the states.
Gray said "quite a few" have been arrested because they did not understand the law.
The department will put in policy that officers will ask if there's a firearm in the car at the beginning of a traffic stop. Some officers may have already been asking the question regularly.
...Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. told media gathered Monday that he met with police leadership about the changes. He said he's heard the "confusion" on whether there's a requirement to inform police about a firearm.
Ewing, like his predecessor Jean Stothert, said he believed there should have been an exception in the law for Nebraska's largest cities, in the interest of officer safety.
While the laws regarding a duty to inform do vary from state to state, in Nebraska the statute is clear: if someone is carrying a firearm and are "contacted" by police or emegency services, they "shall immediately inform the peace officer or emergency services personnel that the person is carrying a concealed handgun."
There is an exception for those traveling with an unloaded firearm, so long as it is kept separate from ammunition and enclosed in a case, but anyone carrying for self-defense does have a duty to inform officers if and when they're stopped.
The policy change will hopefully clear up any confusion and reduce the number of lawful gun owners who end up arrested and charged with a crime for not immediately informing officers that they're carrying, but this is hardly an indictment on the state's permitless carry law. And while Ewing complains that the law is having a detrimental effect on public and officer safety, he's ignoring the fact that crime has decreased substantially in the city since permitless carry took effect.
As KETV reported in January of this year, Omaha's violent crime rate in 2024 was the lowest in 14 years.
-Violent crime totals are down over 21 percent year over year, and is lower now than the last 14 years
-Total crime is down 17 percent year over year, and is lower now than the last 14 years
-Per capita homicides hit lowest mark in last 34 years
-100 percent clearance rate (arrest made, suspect dead) for 2nd year in a row
Permitless carry hasn't made Omaha (or anywhere else in Nebraska) a more dangerous place. Crime is down substantially since the law took effect, and though the city has seen 21 homicides this year compared to 19 in 2024, that's still far less than the 30 homicides reported in 2022, which was the last full year before permitless carry took effect.
I'm not attributing the decline in violent crime to permitless carry (at least not entirely), but it's clear that the predictions of anarchy in the streets and increased danger were completely unfounded. Omaha's former mayor was off-base in demanding an exception to the state's permitless carry law, and Ewing's parroting of her request is equally wrongheaded, if not more so now that we know how wrong she was.
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