On Friday, September 1st, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird signed an executive order banning the possession of firearms on all city property, including all buildings and parks operated by the city. The executive order was issued to maintain the ordinances previously in place in the city, which would have been nullified on Saturday with statewide preemption taking effect.
Mayor Baird’s executive order comes after a near-identical order was issued in Omaha by Mayor Jean Stothert on Wednesday, August 30th.
Though Lincoln previously had city-operated facilities designated as gun-free zones, this executive order is a clear assault on all law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their Second Amendment right. Where “gun-free zones” exist, they cause only those who obey the law to be “gun-free”, leaving them vulnerable and unable to defend themselves against the still-armed, violent, opportunistic bad actors who pay no attention to the law, and know their victims will be unarmed. Constitutional carry and statewide preemption were passed in order to remove and prevent undue government interference and patchworks of confusing local ordinances, but Lincoln has decided to penalize their law-abiding citizens and defiantly double down on both hinderances.
The NRA encourages all members and other Second Amendment advocates to contact the Mayor’s Office by emailing [email protected] or calling 402-441-7511 to express your concern with the mayor’s executive order and the impact it will have on law-abiding citizens.
