Two hours after the Lincoln City Council unanimously passed its second gun ordinance of the year, a local gun control advocacy group decried the measure as watered-down policy.Â
Nebraskans Against Gun Violence Executive Director Melody Vaccaro issued a statement saying the group was disappointed the City Council enacted Councilman Roy Christensen's ordinance that requires guns left in vehicles be out of sight and the doors locked.
Christensen tweaked his ordinance Monday, removing requirements that unattended guns be locked in trunks, glove boxes or hardened cases attached to the vehicle.Â
Council Chair Jane Raybould, who wasn't at Monday's meeting, had introduced an amendment that would have lightened the sentence for violators but kept the more-stringent storage requirements in place. The council voted her proposal down unanimously, and
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With its vote, the council ignored a strong amendment without debate, Vaccaro said in a statement. Â
"We are shocked the City Council chose (to) enact policy that essentially says that cars are gun safes, particularly in light of the fact that nearly 50% of stolen firearms are recovered in the hands of juveniles," Vaccaro said in a news release. Â
Since last year, Nebraskans Against Gun Violence has advocated for a city ordinance requiring all unattended firearms be locked up to prevent them from getting into the hands of children.
A task force studied gun safety in Lincoln and issued a report this summer stopping short of recommending a safe-storage ordinance.Â
In September, the council passed Raybould's measure requiring all gun thefts be reported to police within 48 hours of discovery, a policy the task force supported.
Vaccaro said her group will continue to push for stronger gun protections in the city.Â
"We can do better," she said.Â
StarTran numbers
StarTran bounced back from consecutive years of ridership declines with increases in 2017 and 2018, according to the agency.Â
The Federal Transit Administration recognized Lincoln's bus and paratransit provider this month for its 85,147-rider increase last year. StarTran had the largest ridership increase in the state of Nebraska during that time frame.
Manager Mike Davis said the increases represent the effectiveness of the overhaul of StarTran's service in late 2016, which included new service routes, more straightline routes on arterial streets, longer hours, more frequent service and new amenities at designated bus stops.
The increases — StarTran numbers grew by 103,000 in 2017, also came as other transit services in the region saw ridership declines partly tied to consistently low gas prices, Davis said.
"Our ridership up to this point has been better than what FTA is seeing in other transit systems," Davis said.
"We are bucking that trend."
StarTran ridership in 2018 — 2.46 million riders, or essentially 3,400 round trips each day — was still about 1.2% lower than total ridership in 2014.Â
Ridership between the fixed-route service and the Handi-van program seems about on par with last year's figures as 2019 enters its final two months, Davis said.Â
Fast takes
* 5.03% — The increase in sales tax collections reported in the first two months of the city's fiscal year. Sales taxes received by the city last year came in short of what Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird called aggressive projections. Those lower-than-expected revenues led to budget cuts and an infusion from the city's cash reserve to balance the two-year budget in August. Will the strong collections seen so far continue into the holiday season, a time last year that proved weaker than expected?
* 6,500Ìý— The number of runners competing in the Good Life Halfsy half-marathon Sunday morning.
* 4 — The number of yes votes the City Council would need Monday to alter the fate of the proposed elevated roundabout at 14th Street and Old Cheney Road. If Councilman Richard Meginnis' ordinance to delay the project's construction passes, the mayor could veto it. Any veto override would require five of seven council members to vote to override.