MISSOULA – A course entitled “Gun Safety for Personal Protection and Concealed Weapon Permits” will be hosted in Missoula by the Montana Shooting Sports Association and taught by Gary Marbut on both Saturday, April 10th and also on Sunday, April 18th. Both one-day courses 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 and pre-class study are required. The cost is $90 per student. Students should be 16 years or older. For further information or to register, call 549-1252 or email gary@marbut.com.
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Information: Gary Marbut, president MSSA, 549-1252

Note to prospective students: These two classes are the same, so you could attend on either the 10th, or the 18th. If you want into either class, call or email me and I’ll get you registered. If you send me an email, I will need your first and last name, a valid USPS mail address, a contact phone number, and which class you wish to attend.

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

Our rifle matches will be scheduled for the third Saturday of each month through October, possibly minus July and August depending on how the fire season evolves.

If you haven’t fired one of these matches before, be sure to review the Website for information about times, procedures, etc.
http://www.marbut.com/rifle

I will only send this one announcement to the general MSSA email list. I keep a separate email list for information about these rifle matches. If you wish to also be on the “Rifle List” to get announcements about upcoming and/or recent Precision Rifle Matches, shoot me an email and ask to be put 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

In case you haven’t been there before, the State Capitol is on the East end of Helena, only about five blocks West of I-15, and about three blocks South (uphill) from the main east/west thoroughfare through Helena.

Although the MSSA Annual Meeting starts officially at 10 AM, the very friendly MHS invites you to come at 9AM to look at its historical display. MHS may assemble a special display of historical and antique firearms specially for the MSSA meeting.

At Noon we will break for lunch, to reassemble at 1:30. The Meeting should be over by 4 PM.

Best wishes,

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

To avoid that consumption of time at the Annual Meeting, I have written about MSSA 2009 activities and have posted that at:
http://www.marbut.com/mssa2009/

Please review this if you are curious about what MSSA has been doing for Montana gun owners and hunters in the past year.

MSSA membership. Many Montana gun owners and hunters are receiving the benefits of MSSA’s work, but are not members of MSSA. MSSA has the national reputation for being the most effective state-level pro-gun organization in the U.S., perhaps in the World. In the past 25 years, MSSA has gotten 54 pro-gun and pro-hunting bills through the Montana Legislature, all supporting your RKBA and the right to hunt in Montana. See some of our successes HERE.

MSSA membership is a GREAT investment. And, we are only as strong as our membership. If you are NOT a member, you should join. Join today!

You can download a mailable membership form from:
http://www.mtssa.org/membership.phtml

We’re working for you. Help us out with your support by becoming a member!

Best wishes,

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

There is a small group of MSSA e-list members who’ve formerly volunteered to help me with research when needed.

My current need for research assistance is beyond the ability of the current small research group. Many of them appear to be busy with other stuff.

If you are reasonably computer savvy, can navigate the Internet and are willing to help, shoot me an email and I’ll respond with the details of the research project. It can be done in manageable pieces.

FYI, this has to do with our litigation over the Firearms Freedom Act.

Thanks loads,

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

Celebrate!!

In 1991 MSSA got a bill passed setting aside the first week of March as the official week in Montana to celebrate our cherished Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Here’s what the Montana law actually says:

1-1-224. Observance of right to keep and bear arms. The week beginning the first Monday in March is an official week of observance to commemorate Montana’s valued heritage of the right of each person to keep and bear arms in the defense of his home, person, or property or in aid of civil power. During this week, all Montanans are urged to reflect on their right to keep and bear arms and to celebrate this right in lawful ways.

So, if you wanted reason to plan a celebration, here it is. If you have interesting ideas about what you will do in your community, let me know and I’ll recirculate them to the MSSA e-list.

Also, if you’re interested and as a bonus, I’ll paste below the story about how this happened (one of the several “Legislative Tales” from my book Gun Laws of Montana – commercial teaser).

Best wishes,

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

==========================
Legislative Tales
RKBA Week in Montana

In 1991, I was in the State Capitol lobbying for our successful “shall-issue” concealed weapon permit bill. It was difficult to get the attention of legislators because there was a tremendous controversy in the Legislature over whether or not Montana should adopt Martin Luther King day as a paid state holiday. That was a marginal issue here in Montana because there just aren’t many African-Americans living here. For many legislators, it seemed an issue awfully remote for Montana. But, the liberals in the Legislature really wanted the bill to pass, mostly I think to flex their political muscle. That session, we had a Republican governor, but the Democrats controlled the Senate and the House by slim margins. That made for a lot of partisan squabbling.

I had a bit different take on the issue. Considering how very many gun owners (90+% Montana households) and hunters we have in Montana, it seemed to me that if we could have a day for Dr. King, we ought to have a whole week to celebrate our right to keep and bear arms, and another whole week to celebrate our culture and heritage of hunting.

So, I sat in a chair in the hallway of the Capitol and wrote out two separate bills on a yellow, legal tablet. It was beyond the deadline in the session when individual legislators could introduce new bills, but it was not too late for whole committees to introduce new bills.

I took my two handwritten bill drafts to friends on the House Fish and Game Committee. The House F&G Committee loved my two bills, especially as a salve to a lot of hard feelings over the King holiday battle. So, the House F&G Committee had my two bills quickly drafted in official style, printed and introduced. The two bills were quickly approved by the Committee, flew through the Senate and House. The RKBA bill, HB594, passed the House by 90-7 on Third Reading, and passed the Senate by 45-5 on Third Reading. The Hunting Heritage bill, HB 613, passed the House on Third Reading by 89-9, and passed the Senate on Third Reading by 43-7. Both bills were signed by Governor Racicot, and are now the law in Montana, found at 1-1-224, M.C.A., and 1-1-226, M.C.A.

The Missoulian/Lee Bureau story is located HERE.

From the story: “Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Joe Maurier suggested looking at such a ban in certain areas in Montana after returning from a conference of wildlife managers.”

You may remember that Maurier has little experience in Montana and maybe little or no experience hunting, and was hired primarily because he was Governor Schweitzer’s college roommate and buddy. Apparently Joe heard about this California-style idea at a conference of western F&G directors and thought it would be California-groovy to run it in Montana.

As you probably know, there was no scientific basis offered for the lead ban, and little or no consideration of unintended consequences.

However, encouraged by the narrow vote, Maurier expressed intent to attempt the ban again. And, somebody who attended this meeting of the F&G Commission told me that the strong public comment against the ban was largely discounted and dismissed when the ban was presented.

Of the seven people primarily responsible for setting FWP policy, the five members of the Commission plus the Department Director and Deputy Director, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that none of them are hunters, especially big game hunters. And, remember, they are all appointed by Governor Schweitzer.

Bottom line: Expect the lead ban proposal to be proposed again with enough new justification to attempt to peel off one more vote on the Commission. And, expect a bill in the next session of the legislature to prohibit FWP from regulating ammunition for hunting.

Thanks to Commission Chairman Shane Colton of Billings for making the motion to dump the lead ban proposal.

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

The MSSA Bylaws require its Annual Meeting to be in Helena on the First Saturday in March of each year, March 6th this year.

This is the only physical meeting MSSA holds each year. It’s always been our policy to minimize statewide meetings because Montana is such a large place and it can be a burden on folks to travel to get together in one place.

We’re still working on the exact location of the Annual Meeting in Helena, but it will convene at 10 AM, we’ll take a break for lunch, and we should be done by 4 PM.

I will get out an additional announcement once we’ve nailed down the Meeting location in Helena.

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

The Montana Firearms Freedom Act was actually signed into law by Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer last year. The law states that any firearm or firearm accessory that is manufactured in Montana and is sold in Montana cannot be regulated by the Federal Government. Marbut’s proposed manufacturing of this youth rifle would fall under the rules of such a law.

However, MSSA v. Holder, is scheduled to be heard in court later this year. MSSA took the initiative to request a court hearing to get a judgment on the constitutionality of this law. MSSA is prepared to go all the way to the United States Supreme Court if necessary. In the meantime, Holder is requesting that the case be dismissed on the grounds that Gary Marbut does not have legal standing to sue. Marbut claims he does and part of that proof is his plans to manufacture and market the Montana Buckaroo.

There are now 22 states that have passed or proposed similar laws to the Montana Firearms Freedom Act. You can learn more about those by visiting Firearms Freedom Act.

Hey Shooters!!
We have worked out a deal with Suarez International Training to come up to Montana to teach some of their gun fighting classes. The classes are being held at a private range just west of Three Forks in April, May and July. As you may know, the greatest expense in taking a top level training class is not the tuition or ammo costs, it’s the travel and lodging. By bringing them here to Montana we reduce the amount of time away from work, and the travel and lodging expenses.

The range has 1000+ yards available and plenty of room to run and move. If we can get these classes populated with at least 10 people, we can expect Suarez to make this a regular stop, and more advanced classes will find their way here. You will be allowed to camp on the range if you’d like. There is a porta potty on site and Three Forks is only a few miles down the road.

I have asked Gary if he would forward this to the MTSSA membership, and he has graciously agreed. We are a relatively small but active group of shooters who actually seek to better themselves with regular training, competition and testing our equipment Over the last 2-3 years I have worked hard to develop a relationship with Suarez International.

Suarez is a fight based gun training company that pushes the boundaries and tests the old square range theories on gun fighting. Thru these tests they have discovered that many of the “modern technique” dogmas are not only ineffective in a gunfight, but can get you killed!! Far from a diploma mill that treats students like cattle in their quest for dollars, SI seeks to develop a relationship with its students where each has something to teach the other. Their discussion forums can be found at http://www.warriortalk.com/ . Take some time to read thru some of the pinned topics and browse around.

I have high hope for all of you, and the future of classes coming to Bozeman of this caliber really depends on you to a large degree. Tell your buddies about this, even if you can only get one to show up, that is a huge victory. Here is the class info on the three classes we have scheduled for 2010 so far.

SW Montana upcoming classes.
April 24-25. Close Range Gunfighting < http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=826 >
May 1-2. AK Rifle Gunfighting < http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=827 >
July 17-18. Point shooting Progressions < http://www.suarezinternationalstore.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=840 >

CRG= Close range gunfighting. Covers conflicts at close ranges with the pistol. we will explore dynamic movement and aggressive close range techniques

PSP= Point shooting progressions. Roger Philips is about the only person in the country who has taken the old point shooting techniques and moved them into the modern age, added movement and the typical Suarez flair for busting the modern technique myths and inserting fight reality.

AK Rifle Gunfighting class will teach you to run the AK like it was intended. With techniques pulled from the Russian spetznaz and the Russian martial art, you’ll leave with a much greater appreciation of the abilities of the AK and no longer see it as an awkward implement for the conscript. Even if you do not have an AK, this class will teach you valuable skills to fight with a rifle. Bring your SKS or AR if you want!!

Here’s the full Suarez schedule… http://www.suarezinternational.com/tech.html

I am acting as the host for these classes, so if you need any information, then please let me know. All classes are being held at the Samuel Whitamore private range just west and south of Three Forks MT. I look forward to seeing you at the shoots. Get signed up ASAP as the classes will get canceled if there is not enough participation. Ill let you know if we get anything else scheduled.

If you need any ammo. I am a stocking dealer for Hunting Shack, and may have what you need in stock. Just call me or check out the web store at www.performanceammo.com

NOTE: if you cant get paid up in full then call the office directly and get them a deposit to reserve your spot. You will have up until 30 days prior to the actual shoot to get paid in full. Gabe is really good about this, and Us 1%ers need to get all the training we can now while we still can.

Thanks
Steve Jaegers
406-539-9667