Omaha has been trying to push it for a little while. Nebraska, you see, basically erased all local gun control laws recently, putting preemption in place.

Yet folks in Omaha like to think that it doesn’t apply to them.

In fairness, they’re not saying they’re special or anything. They just don’t think the preemption measure works like preemption measures work. As such, they’ve been on a tear trying to pass local gun control.

All of it is technically illegal, mind you, but they’re still passing those measures.

And they just passed one more.

Omaha’s mayor signed the last of two new gun-related ordinances and resolutions aimed at carving out some local tools against gun violence after the Nebraska Legislature cracked down on cities with stricter local gun ordinances than state law.

The newest ordinance bans “bump stocks” or trigger activators. The Omaha City Council passed it 6-1 on Tuesday, with Don Rowe opposed. Mayor Jean Stothert signed it Thursday. The council banned gun-building kits and passed two other gun-related resolutions on Oct. 31.

The mayors of Omaha and Lincoln issued executive orders this year limiting the possession of concealed handguns on city property after the passage of State Sen. Tom Brewer’s Legislative Bill 77, which legalized concealed carry without a permit or mandatory training.

Brewer’s law, which Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed this spring, took away the local charter authority that Omaha and Lincoln had to pass gun restrictions stronger than state law, which both cities have said helped them fight gang-related gun violence.

Omaha then banned gun kits and bump stocks.

Stothert, who Breitbart notes apparently identifies as a Republican, signed the anti-gun bill. So much for the idea that Republicans are pro-gun, huh? Sure, a lot are, but that’s not universal by any stretch.

Now, here’s the thing about preemption and how cities like Omaha and Lincoln might sort of get away with this nonsense. The laws aren’t supposed to exist, but they can until they actually start enforcing them on people. At that point, they can be challenged on preemption grounds.

Yes, it’s stupid, but it’s generally an issue of standing. You have to be impacted by the law directly if you want to have standing to challenge the law. It’s what prevents me from filing lawsuits to challenge gun control laws in California, among other things.

So they’ll get away with this right up until they try to enforce it.

Since bump stocks, however, are banned federally at the moment, there’s not much chance of seeing this prosecuted at the local level. However, that also makes this measure even dumber. A state passing such a law so they can prosecute should the feds decline to do so makes sense. States can offer similar penalties and can actually put some teeth into such a law.

A city ordinance cannot and will not exactly strike bad guys with terror.

But it’s never really about crime, no matter how much these two cities claim that they needed these laws to combat it. It’s about dictating what people can and cannot do or have, regardless of what the Second Amendment says.

And we all know it.