Cornhusker State lawmakers are seeking to expand self-defense rights by introducing a Stand-Your-Ground measure last week.
The measure, Legislative Bill 1269, was introduced on Jan. 17 by Republican state Sen. Brian Hardin with 14 co-sponsors for the measure. While Nebraska law currently recognizes the right of citizens to defend themselves with a firearm at home or on the job, according to Sen. Hardin, Nebraskans “have a duty to retreat” if threatened in a motor vehicle or anywhere else in public.
“We’re talking about changing the philosophy to match the majority of the other states in the country,” Sen. Hardin said.
The legislation strikes the portion of the law stating that the “actor shall not be obliged to retreat from his dwelling or place of work,” and replaces it with language making clear citizens are protected anywhere they find themselves endangered.
“Except as required by subsections (3) and (4) of this section, a person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as such person he believes them to be when the force is used, without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which such person he has no legal duty to do, or abstaining from any lawful action,” the law will read if passed and signed by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen.
Thirty states currently have stand-your-ground laws on the books. They include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa. Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Eight other states—California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia and Washington—have case law/precedent or jury instructions providing SYG protections.
Of course, anti-gun lawmakers and gun-ban organizations hate SYG laws, often referring to them as a license to murder rather than an extension of the natural right of self-defense and the Second Amendment-protected right to keep and bear arms. So-called Everytown For Gun Safety puts it this way: “Stand Your Ground laws give people a license to kill, allowing those who shoot others to obtain immunity, even if they started the confrontation and even when they can safely de-escalate the situation by walking away. Stand Your Ground laws are inherently dangerous because they change the nature of gun violence in a state by encouraging escalation of violence and, according to research, do nothing to deter overall crime.”
We’ll keep TTAG readers updated as this measure is considered in the Nebraska legislature.