Montana Outfitter Asks Fish, Wildlife and Parks For Emergency Closure Of HD250

Editor’s Note: Below is a copy of a letter dated April 28, 2010 from Montana Outfitter Scott Boulanger, asking Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director, Joe Maurier, if FWP will call for an emergency closing of Hunting District 250. This letter has been verified as authentic. Read more

Reminder – rifle match

Just a reminder that the first Potomac Precision Rifle Match of the season happens this Saturday, 4/17, near Potomac, just NE of Missoula.

This is a field match – no shooting benches – for interested riflemen (and any interested ladies too, of course). This is more a chance to play at distance under organized rules than a highly competitive match – no prizes or trophies. A participant may enter Hunter Class with 41 steel targets downrange (mostly) between 100 and 300 yards, or Precision class with 65 targets between 300 and 1,000 yards. For more information about the match, including directions, targets, layout, rules, etc., see:
http://www.marbut.com/rifle

Participating in this match is a great way to check your rifle skills and gear, and to learn more about precision shooting.

We will run this match generally on the third Saturday of each month through October (possibly minus July and August because of fire potential).

Preregistration is encouraged if a person wishes to know that they have an assured slot in the match. If you definitely want to shoot, send me an email with your name, the town you’re from, and the Class you wish to shoot.

Also, I maintain a separate email list for people who wish to receive regular email announcements about these rifle matches. If you wish to be on that list, just reply to this email and ask me to put you on the rifle list.

Best wishes,

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

Montana Firearms Freedom Act – Amici And Briefs Due Today

Today is a big day for the Montana Firearms Freedom Act. In the litigation to validate the principles of the MFFA, the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the Second Amendment Foundation and I are all Plaintiffs. The U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is the principal Defendant, thus the case caption of MSSA v. Holder.

The first hurdle in this lawsuit is the pending U.S. Motion to Dismiss. The feds argue that the lawsuit should be dismissed immediately – should not go to trial – because Plaintiffs lack “standing,” because the U.S. is sovereign and may not be sued (“jurisdiction”), and because of merit (they say we’ll lose so why waste time discussing the issue).

This Motion to Dismiss was expected, and is pretty standard, boilerplate legal maneuvering. Still, we must respond and respond well. If we lose on the Motion to Dismiss, we will have to appeal that dismissal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We’d rather move on directly to trial in the lawsuit on the merits of the MFFA arguments than get sidetracked with an appeal over dismissal.

Judge Molloy, in whose court this is lodged, is thought by attorneys to be fair and interested in this issue, and has a reputation for being something of a scholar. Nevertheless, there is some conjecture that he might favor the Motion to Dismiss just to get this hot potato of national consequence out of his lap. I disagree with that conjecture but I have no real evidence to support my disagreement. I think Judge Molloy is not afraid of controversy or work. And, this case may present a more interesting intellectual challenge than other cases before his court.

So, it is necessary for our side to mount a full court press on all the issues the U.S. has raised in their Motion to Dismiss.

To that end, it is VERY helpful that so many other states have climbed onto this FFA bandwagon, a phenomenon called “emerging consensus” by the courts. Six other states have enacted clones of the MFFA and 20 others have introduced FFA bills.

Plus, there are a number of amici (plural of “amicus curiae” – friends of the court) parties that have joined the fray. Collectively, they bring a lot of weight to our side.

Today is the deadline for Plaintiffs’ brief in response to the federal Motion to Dismiss. Today is also the deadline for most amici to have submitted their petitions to join the suit and for amici’s briefs in opposition to the Motion to Dismiss. Today will be a day of much activity and filing of documents with the federal court.

The entities that have already petitioned for entry as amici or are cueing up to do so include:

The Goldwater Institute of Arizona
The Attorney General of Utah (representing Utah and the AGs of some other states)
The Weapons Collectors Society of Montana (thanks for the support WCSM)
The Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence (representing legislators who’ve sponsored FFA bills in other states)
The Paragon Foundation of New Mexico
Gun Owners Foundation (Gun Owners of America)
Montana Legislators (who supported the MFFA in the Montana Legislature)

Each of the amici will address different and useful aspects of the law relating to the case.

You might guess that I’ve been working behind the scenes for months to ravel all of this into a concerted and comprehensive effort – a great cat-herding exercise.

We don’t know how quickly Judge Molloy will rule on the Motion to Dismiss, but it will probably take a month or two.

Meanwhile, MSSA volunteer Webmaster Michael is doing a great job of posting documents as they become available to the “Montana Lawsuit Updates” page of our Website at:
http://www.FirearmsFreedomAct.com

Check there if you want to read any of the briefs as they are submitted and posted.

Stay tuned, campers. It should be an interesting exercise in freedom.

Best wishes,

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

CWP classes, May, Missoula area

Gun Safety for Personal Protection and Concealed Weapon Permits Course Sunday May 16th or Saturday May 29th.

MISSOULA – A course entitled “Gun Safety for Personal Protection and Concealed Weapon Permits” will be hosted in Missoula by the Montana Shooting Sports Association twice in May, once on Sunday the 16th, and again on Saturday the 29th.

Each one-day course will focus on safe handling, storage and use of handguns suitable for personal protection, selecting a personal firearm, issues of personal protection, allowable use of lethal force, concealed weapon permits, kids and gun safety, and shooting skills, and will include both classroom and shooting range sessions.

Graduates will receive a credential qualifying them to apply for concealed weapon permits under Montana law. The class will begin at 9:00 AM, and finish about 4:00 PM.

Class size is limited to the first 20 registrants and preregistration is required. The cost is $90 per student. Students should be 16 years or older.

For further information or to register, call 549-1252.

To register by email, reply to this email and provide:
Name
U.S. Mail address
Contact phone number

Expect an email confirmation of your class registration.

Further class instructions will be supplied by return email.

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

Montana Firearms Freedom Act And The Ninth Amendment

In Montana Shooting Sports Association’s litigation to validate the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA), there are several serious legal points to be made. These include various flavors of states’ right arguments, reexamination of federal Commerce Clause power, the effect of the Second and Tenth Amendments, and others.

One argument that has been simmering in the background but clearly raised in the text of the MFFA is what effect the Ninth Amendment may have on thwarting federal laws contrary to the MFFA.

While attorneys involved have been doing heavy thinking about the other important issues, I decided to turn my hand to researching, thinking about and writing about the MFFA/Ninth Amendment relationship. I seek to frame a Ninth Amendment argument, the essence of which could be applied in our litigation, MSSA v. Holder.

In case you may be interested, I have just published my writing about the MFFA and the Ninth Amendment at:
http://www.progunleaders.org/NinthAmendment/

Best wishes,

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

MSSA Candidate Questionnaires

I have now developed and posted Candidate Questionnaires specifically for three types of candidates:

Candidates for the Montana Legislature:
http://www.progunleaders.org/lcq2010/

Candidates for County Sheriff:
http://www.progunleaders.org/SheriffsCQ/

and, Candidates for County Attorney
http://www.progunleaders.org/cacq2010/

If you are interested in what issues MSSA will bring before the 2011 Montana Legislature, have a look at the CQ for legislative candidates.

If you have any contacts with any candidates for the Montana Legislature, be sure to strongly urge them to complete and return the legislative CQ. In fact, you should ask ALL candidates for the Legislature IF they have completed and returned the MSSA legislative CQ. If they haven’t, what are they hiding from Montana gun owners and hunters?

I have already distributed the CQs for Sheriffs and County Attorneys to those individuals who have volunteered to be MSSA County Coordinators (Thanks!) to use to evaluate local candidates for those offices. You are welcome to use them for that purpose too, especially if you live in a county not yet represented by an MSSA County Coordinator. If you only have one candidate running for a particular office, no need to bother unless you wish to use the CQ locally as an education or discussion piece for the lone candidate for Sheriff or County Attorney.

The counties where MSSA has identified an MSSA County Coordinator include:
Broadwater County
Cascade County
Dawson County
Flathead County
Glacier County
Jefferson County
Lake County
Lewis and Clark County
Lincoln County
Meagher County
Mineral County
Missoula County
Musselshell County
Park County
Ravalli County
Richland County
Sanders County
Stillwater County
Yellowstone County

Best wishes,

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