Nebraska lawmakers rejected a bill on Jan. 9 that would have raised the cost of a concealed handgun permit from $5 to $25, with some senators arguing that counties shouldn’t impose any fee.
According to the Associated Press the legislation hit a wave of resistance despite arguments that it would help counties cover the rising cost of processing permit applications, a requirement imposed on counties by the state.
Lawmakers voted 27-17 to indefinitely postpone the measure, killing it for the rest of this year’s session.
Nebraska’s three most populous counties — Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy — have seen a sharp increase in the number of permit applications that need to be processed while the fee has stayed the same for the last 25 years, said Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, the bill’s sponsor.
Blood said the Legislature’s reluctance to allow such fee increases creates pressure on county boards to raise property taxes.
Senators also rejected a proposed amendment to shift the cost from counties to the state, but adopted a measure that would have let permits remain valid for five years instead of the current three.
