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Calling it "appalling," Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley took issue Thursday with Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers referring to a white person bringing a semiautomatic weapon to the Capitol during an earlier debate.

Chambers made the statement Wednesday during debate on a measure to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

He took issue with opponents of the bill who encouraged its supporters to remain "civilized" during the debate.

"You cannot stand words, and you want to inflict wrongful conduct against people. And they're supposed to be polite, cheerful and accept it. That is insane," Chambers said.

He continued, saying that he watched much of the debate from his office because, "if I was up here I'd probably pick these books up and start throwing them around. If I was a white guy, I'd go get my semiautomatic weapon and come down here and mow everybody down."

The gun reference startled people watching the debate online and drew an immediate reaction from a handful of state senators.