Lincoln, Nebraska Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird wanted the kind of gun control ordinance that many other communities seem to be embracing. She wanted to penalize people who may well find themselves the victims of a crime because they didn’t follow the steps she, personally, thinks they should have to have prevented the crime. In particular, her proposal called for heavy restrictions on guns in cars.

Instead, a watered-down version of the ordinance was passed by the city commission. While Gaylor Baird signed it, she wasn’t happy about it.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird on Wednesday warned gun owners to keep unattended firearms out of vehicles despite a new city ordinance that allows it.

Well, since she put it so politely…

The mayor announced she has signed the ordinance requiring guns left in vehicles be out of sight and the car doors locked.

City Councilman Roy Christensen had initially proposed a measure that would have required unattended guns in vehicles to be locked in a glove box, trunk or secure case.

But he amended the ordinance over concerns about how hunting rifles could be transported or how the ordinance could apply to pickups.

The change required only that guns left in vehicles be hidden and doors locked.

Now, these are valid concerns. Pickups are popular with hunters, but they don’t have trunks. It’s not like you can lock a rifle up in the glove compartment, now is it?

Of course, it’s not like this is a good law by any stretch of the imagination. Instead, it seeks to penalize law-abiding gun owners for what may well be momentary lapses or possibly even technical issues they’re unaware of.

Take my wife’s car, for example. It uses a key fob to lock and unlock the doors. However, for a while, it wouldn’t lock when you pressed the lock button. How long had it been that way when we realized there was a problem? We don’t know. What I do know, though, is that these problems happen with newer vehicles from time to time. That means it’s possible for someone to violate this law while not actually doing anything wrong.

Not that it matters.

Nebraska has a preemption law on the books. That means this law probably needs to be challenged in court. Plus, the way the state’s preemption law, with the exception of laws against discharging a firearm in a city, most gun laws don’t apply to people with concealed carry permits. That tells me that if someone has a permit, they can completely ignore this law just for fun.

Of course, I’m not an attorney, nor did I play one on TV and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Don’t take my advice on legal matters. Instead, talk to an actual attorney and then file any relevant lawsuits to put an end to this brand of stupidity.

Gaylord Baird wants gun control smack dab in the middle of America’s heartland. A legal defeat would be a good reminder that the people of Nebraska don’t need that kind of nonsense.