KEARNEY — The Kearney City Council voted 3-2 to rescind a resolution regarding weapons on city property after a packed room of guns rights advocates pushed for the change.
During the Nov. 28 meeting, the city council heard an hour of testimony from numerous Second Amendment advocates, with more than 60 crowding the council chambers, hallways and a second room with a feed of the main chamber.
The council voted 3-2 to rescind an Oct. 10 resolution that reaffirmed the City of Kearney’s policy to be able to continue maintaining conspicuously placed signs prohibiting weapons on publicly access City managed, leased, and owned buildings.
The policy had been in place since 2013, and the resolution was drafted in response to LB 77, the permitless-carry bill approved during the 2023 Legislature session.
An amended resolution was presented to the council on Nov. 28, with its language intending to clear up the confusion that had been created by the Oct. 10 resolution.
Many who testified said the signage indicating where weapons are not allowed are an invitation for mass shooters. Others instead asked for the language of the Second Amendment to be enshrined into the city code, rather than this resolution.
Another said everyone who showed up to support the Second Amendment gathered because they sensed a small overstep by a local government and asked them to respond when the people speak up.
With the vote to rescind the resolution, the City of Kearney now does not have the authority to post where weapons are prohibited. Signage will be removed from City Hall, the Kearney Public Library, Mitzi’s Pavilion at Yanney Park and other city buildings.
The motion was made by Mayor Stan Clouse, with Jonathan Nikkila and Bruce Lear voting in support. Randy Bushkoetter and Tami James Moore voted against it.
Clouse noted before the vote that LB177, “leaves municipalities out to dry,” with its current language and does not like how it was written.
Nebraska does have its own laws that outline where possessing a weapon is prohibited. These include law enforcement facilities, detention centers, courtrooms, polling sites during an election, churches, financial institutions and bars.