Nebraska recognizes same-sex marriage by accident

Nebraska lawmakers were forced to choose this week between two things they hold dear: the state’s same-sex marriage ban and gun rights.

A bill advanced from the first round of debate Tuesday that would allow military spouses to avoid residency requirements in applying for conceal-carry permits for firearms. Members of the military may already apply for such permits without waiting 180 days to establish residency in the state.


Republican state Sen. Paul Schumacher supported the bill, but worried that it would not extend these gun rights far enough. He offered an amendment that would allow all those receiving spousal benefits from the Department of Defense to apply for the permits without being state residents. Since the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013, this has included same-sex spouses.

“Is not the Second Amendment sex blind? Color blind?” Schumacher said, advocating the inclusion of same-sex couples in the state’s exemption. “What great evil would come from saying a partner of somebody in the military … is entitled to exercise their Second Amendment rights to carry a concealed weapon in this state?”

Schumacher is an opponent of same-sex marriage but a strong supporter of gun rights. After he voiced his support, the amendment passed 38-0.

State Sen. John Murante did not vote on the measure. When it passed, he voiced concern that the amendment could be used by same-sex marriage activists to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage law.

“I think we just recognized gay marriage,” Murante said. “We are now using the federal government’s standard for who receives the marriage benefits.”

The state’s application for concealed-carry permits does not include a question about the gender of an applicant’s spouse and, thus, cannot discriminate between those marriages recognized by the state of Nebraska and those recognized only by the federal government.

Nebraska’s ban on same-sex marriage could be overturned by the Supreme Court in a case set to begin oral arguments this April.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers, an independent who supports same-sex marriage, voted against the bill as a gun-control advocate but voted for Schumacher’s amendment.

Asked whether the bill will implicitly recognize same-sex marriage in Nebraska, Chambers said only, “The bill says what it says and does what it does.”