Call participants wonder, 'Should God, Guns mix?'

LB 430 contains amendments to Nebraska's concealed handgun permit act and is still being debated on the legislative floor, Sen. Christensen said this morning in the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce's Government Affairs Legislative conference call.

The amendments consist of new language to clarify what is or is not allowed under the law, he said, including one that would allow security personnel to carry weapons at churches.

A participant at the conference call told him that during a family discussion about the concealed handgun permit law, her grandchild posed the question about God's providence.

Christensen responded that he agreed that a place of worship should be a location people shouldn't have to worry about being shot, but the reality is that it happens.

He pointed to an incident last year in Colorado Springs, where three were killed at a church until someone with a concealed weapon stopped him.

Another church in Lincoln was recently robbed of a significant amount of money, he said and several churches have asked Christensen to submit this amendment.

Under the existing law, which was passed in 2006, concealed weapons are still banned from certain places, he said, such as financial institutions, schools, detention centers and jails, polling places, meetings of governing bodies and political rallies or fundraisers.

Christensen also commented on LB 420, which has advanced out of committee and is waiting debate. Provisions under the bill would extend a sales tax exemption for non-profit hospitals to satellite facilities and will help several satellite health centers in his district, he said

"This is important to the district as satellite clinics could disappear if it doesn't pass," he said, citing one in Chase County.

Another important bill is LB 98, he said, which would change the noxious weed grant programs and the Riparian Vegetation Management Task Force.

Under the bill, funding would be extended for two years at $2 million annually to eliminate the invasive trees and shrubbery that clog river streams.

The benefits of the current riparian vegetative management program already can be seen in a river near Haigler, he said, where, after the invasive vegetation was removed, water still came to the surface of the river this year despite below-normal rainfall.

Christensen was also asked about a trend among some high school students called "sexting," where students send their peers revealing photos of themselves on cell phones.

Chirstensen said the topic has come up in his recent visits to high schools and that it appears there is no current state or federal law that addresses the problem.

His staff is looking at state law concerning it and that "hopefully we can do something without legislation."