HB 246 Hearing Monday – Action needed

You should remember that MSSA’s Montana-made guns bill, HB 246, passed the House on Second Reading by a vote of 64-36. However, HB 246 was re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee to consider the Fiscal Note attached.

In that Fiscal Note, the Attorney General said he’d have to hire outside legal counsel to being the vetting lawsuit in federal court required by HB 246, at a cost of $60,000. This despite that there are 252 attorneys working for the Montana executive branch, with about 50 attorneys working for the Attorney General.

The House Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 246 Monday morning March 9th, at 8 AM. Be there if you can to speak in favor of HB 246, or send messages to Committee members asking them to support HB 246. Short messages work best.

The names of Appropriations Committee members are HERE . The Online message form to send messages to legislators is HERE . This is really the best way to get messages to legislators, since many of them don’t check their email. Or, you can leave a message by calling 444-4800.

Purpose. HB 246 declares that any firearms made and retained in Montana are not subject to ANY federal control or regulation under the power of Congress to regulate commerce among the states (the “commerce clause” of the U.S. Constitution). The purpose of HB 246 is to set up a legal challenge in federal court to Congress’s commerce clause power. If we win that legal challenge, then we get to make our own guns here in Montana unfettered by any federal rules.

Thanks for your help.

Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com