LINCOLN, NEBRASKA — Nebraska is not a constitutional carry state yet, but it’s starting to look like a foregone conclusion.
Part the LB 77’s success, as the bill is known, comes after multiple failed attempts over the years to make constitutional carry a reality in the state.
The bill advanced by a dominant 36-12 on Friday after multiple days of debate, according to the Associated Press.
As most already know, as a general rule these votes tend to go roughly along party lines — Republicans reported a largely party line vote on the recent South Carolina House constitutional carry vote.
However, a pair of Democrats broke ranks in Nebraska’s legislature — the only single body legislature in the country, according to their website — to join a majority red-voting group to advance the bill.
Sen. Justin Wayne said that young black people are often charged when a gun that’s not theirs is found in a vehicle they’re riding in, according to the Associated Press.
“How many young African American and Latino kinds are affected by Omaha’s gun laws?” he asked on the Senate floor.
Whether or not one agrees with that assessment, or even with constitutional carry as a concept, the bill steams forward.
The bill needs to survive two more rounds of debate before the governor can sign it into law, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s office said Friday that should constitutional carry make it to his desk, he’ll sign it, according to the Associated Press.
