Tensions remained high Thursday in the Nebraska legislative chamber, six days after at least four people brought guns, some said to be loaded, into the state Capitol, and into a hearing room.Ìý
A number of senators rose to talk about the threats they've received recently and not so recently. They said the Legislature needs to get more serious about protecting its lawmakers and their staffs.
Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh said she would submit a rules change next week to make the building safer for everyone who comes into it.
"I am disappointed and disheartened by all of you," she said. "Forty-eight of you heard me speak on Monday and it took today for any of you to get outraged and get on the microphone. ... You all failed me, as your friend, as your colleague, as a citizen of the state. ... And many of you tried to silence me."
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Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks distributed a packet of examples of threats she has received on social media, many of them over gun bills. She also tweeted to her constituents that she would never again sit in a hearing room with people carrying guns, and in particular a loaded AR-15 assault rifle.
Those threats included a tweet of a skeleton in a helmet, with an assault weapon, and the message, "Kill Your Local Politician," to which Brett Hendrix, one of the weapon carriers at the hearing, replied: "Oof, that! that is a keeper."
Also: A picture of a politician's suicide on live television in 1987, and a message that said, "I wish politicians still gave speeches like this." Also this: "F*** around and find out, remember that we know where u live."
"When people are threatening with a noose and guillotine, it is clearly disturbing," she said. "My family and I are very concerned."
She also copied the rules and regulations governing use of the Capitol that are authorized by state law to make the point that something could be done.
When Lincoln Sen. Adam Morfeld looked at Pansing Brooks' packet, he reacted, saying he was sure they would have a discussion about whether the Second Amendment applies to the Capitol.
The threats Pansing Brooks has received are absurd, he said.
"And the fact that we're not taking this seriously is a disgrace," he said. "I am very upset right now."
Morfeld introduced a so-called red flag bill last session that would allow firearms to be removed temporarily with due process from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others, before warning signs escalate into violence.
He said Sen. Tom Brewer had called his bill, which is out of committee but not prioritized, "stupid." But it was brought at the request of law enforcement who said it could save lives, he said, and in particular could have saved several veterans who killed themselves.
"So careful what you call stupid," he said to Brewer. "Careful."
Brewer was commenting this week on an array of gun bills that naturally stir up the public, he said, so they can't be surprised when large numbers of Second Amendment supporters show up to be heard. Four out of 400 who showed up Friday at a hearing on a bill (LB816) brought guns with them.
Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte said this is not a left or right issue. He, too, has been threatened. He got a call at his house because of his vote in favor of the death penalty in which the caller explained he knew all of Groene's residences and threatened to kill him. Because of an abortion vote, his wife and daughter were threatened.
"If you have strong beliefs, there are those cowards out there who are going to threaten you," Groene said. "But I lived with it. I decided to be a state senator. I know free speech, and there's fools out there."
He didn't like the guns in the building, either, he said. But they had the right to bring them.
Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne said he was disappointed his first year in office that this outrage didn't occur when he was threatened by a feminist protest group with Barbie dolls blown up and put in his mailbox. They were silent when 34 senators got 34 bloody Barbies delivered to their offices by the same group because of a vote.
He asked senators to think about how things are affecting communities that don't look like "us" and how they are OK with that, but when it comes to "our" community, law office, legislative office, business, it's a problem.
"But as long as it's over there, I don't have to look and think about it," he said. "It is that silence that allowed it to happen today."
Lincoln Sen. Mike Hilgers, chairman of the Executive Board that manages the Legislature, said he was going to meet with the State Patrol on Thursday about the threats.
He said he stands with Pansing Brooks and Morfeld and hears their concerns and Cavanaugh's.Ìý
"First and foremost, the first priority that I have is the protection and safety of the members of this body and the people who work here," he said. "I think that is shared by every one of us."