The Douglas County Board of Commissioners met for a brief meeting Tuesday to discuss a special use permit for firearm sales and transfers from a Bennington home. The Board ultimately denied the permit in a 4-2 vote, citing fears of gun violence. The Omaha City Council did not meet Tuesday.
According to ATF rules and procedures, firearms purchased over the internet cannot be shipped directly to the purchaser, but rather to an intermediary. Quintin Erdman requested the permit to be an intermediary to transfer firearms, as well as keep a limited stock of firearms in his home to directly sell to customers.
After renewing agreements for school resource officers for Davis Middle School and Westview High School, Commissioner Jim Cavanaugh said he would vote against Erdman’s permit because he was concerned with mass shootings at schools. Erdman said his home was approximately two miles away from Bennington High School.
“It’s just a bad precedent to set in a society that demonstrably has a big problem with shootings and guns,” Cavanaugh said. “At some point we gotta draw a line.”