Nebraska Firearms Preemption Bars Local Gun Ordinances

Under Neb. Rev. Stat. 18-1703, the ownership, possession, transportation, transfer, sale, purchase, taxation, manufacture, registration, and storage of firearms and ammunition are matters of statewide concern reserved to the Legislature. Section 17-556 mirrors that limit for villages and second-class cities. LB 77, enacted in 2023, broadened preemption by repealing former subsection language that allowed Lincoln and Omaha to impose certain handgun ordinances and concealed-handgun rules within their corporate limits. Cities may still enact ordinances on the discharge of firearms, on possession in city-owned buildings open to the public when posted, and on conduct constituting a public nuisance, but those rules cannot be more restrictive than state law. Any conflicting local ordinance is void.

A local ordinance that conflicts with section 18-1703 is unenforceable. Affected gun owners may sue for declaratory and injunctive relief, and prevailing plaintiffs may recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the political subdivision.