LINCOLN — Gov. Pete Ricketts, an avid advocate for gun rights, fired back Thursday over renewed calls by President Joe Biden to close loopholes in background checks on gun purchases and ban assault-style rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Biden issued the calls after mass shootings in Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta during the past week.

Ricketts, who was a featured speaker at a National Rifle Association convention in 2018, said that banning guns will not solve “the underlying problems that have resulted in these tragedies.”

“The president should work to address underlying issues in the community rather than limit our right to bear arms, which is protected in the U.S. Constitution,” Ricketts said in a press release on Thursday. “Nebraska is a pro-Second Amendment state,” the Republican governor added, “and we will stand up against any attempt by the federal government to expand gun laws and impede our freedoms.”

Bills to ban state or local officials from enforcing any new federal firearm restrictions, and to let counties allow concealed carry of firearms without a permit are pending in the Nebraska Legislature this year.

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