~Basil

Dear MSSA Friends,

MSSA's second bill of the 2021 Montana legislative session has been introduced by Rep. Jed Hinkle as HB 258.
https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/billhtml/HB0258.htm

This bill would prohibit state and local government employees from enforcing any federal gun laws, with a short list of exceptions (e.g., felon in possession, etc.) MSSA has gotten this bill passed in 2013, 2015, and 2017, but it was vetoed each time by then-governor Bullock.

HB 258 has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. A public hearing for the bill will be scheduled soon.

HB 258 is intended to protect Montana from the raft of gun control laws, executive orders, rules, and regulations that are expected to be pushed on us by the Biden administration and the new Congress.

Authority for the bill is based on the Second Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Printz v. US. The original version of the Brady Act of 1994 required local sheriffs to run background checks on firearms customers for federally licensed firearms dealers. Sheriff Jay Printz of Ravalli County, Montana, filed a lawsuit in federal court asserting that Congress did not elect him to office or pay his salary, and could not require him to conduct the mandatory background checks under the Brady Act. This case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed with Sheriff Printz, saying that Congress may not commandeer the resources of state and local governments. That decision is still good law and has been upheld since.

Short of further successful litigation in federal courts, Montana cannot legally prevent federal employees from enforcing federal gun laws, but federal employees lack the manpower for any serious enforcement of, for example, a ban on modern sporting rifles or a ban on standard-capacity magazines. The feds will depend on local police to get any such laws enforced, but there is nothing that requires local police to aid the feds. And, Montana can prohibit state and local government employees from doing such enforcement.

All of the Montana law enforcement personnel I've spoken with like this bill because they do NOT want to be enforcing a bunch of new federal gun control laws and rules. Not only would such enforcement distract them from important local policing needs, it could be risky. So, HB 258 would also enhance Montana officers' efficiency and safety.

BTW, there are some who call this type of bill a "sanctuary" law. I don't use that term because the term has become so laden with
connotations about illegal immigration and drugs.

I'll let you know as soon as HB 258 is scheduled for a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee.

Best wishes,

--
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
Author, /Gun Laws of Montana/
http://www.mtpublish.com