Montana Constitutional Carry Up For Vote

Montana Constitutional Carry Up For Vote

Washington, DC –-(Ammoland.com)- HB 271, permitless carry is out of conference committee.

It has been amended to strip Senate amendments and to say that a person can carry concealed inside cities without a permit for “(g) a person eligible to possess a handgun under state or federal law”

HB 271 will now go to the full Senate and House for concurrence with the amendment of the conference committee. Please contact BOTH your Senator and Representative and ask him or her to support the conference committee report on HB 271!!

Shooting Range Funding. Funding for the Shooting Range Development program uses hunter license fees ONLY (no tax revenues) for FWP to make matching grants to local clubs to start or improve shooting ranges – to develop safe and suitable places for people to shoot. This funding is controlled by HB 2, the budget bill for state government. MSSA is requesting $1.5 million for the SRDP for the next two years. FWP requested only $625K for the program in the proposed state budget.

HB 2 has gone to a conference committee to iron out differences between House and Senate versions of the state budget. A conference committee includes three members from the Senate and three from the House. Appointed to the conference committee from the Senate are senators Dave Lewis (R-Helena), Rick Ripley (R-wolf Creek), and Carol Williams (D-Missoula). Appointed from the House are Walt McNutt (R-Sidney), John Esp (R-Livingston), and Jon Sesso (D-Butte).

Senator Dave Lewis (our good friend) has prepared an amendment for HB 2 to put another $850K into the SRDP to bring it up to the MSSA-requested $1.5 million (THANKS Dave). Please contact the other members of the conference committee and urge them to support Senator Lewis’s amendment to fully fund the SRDP.

Understand that the most contentious bill in the legislature is HB 2. Democrats want to tax and spend more, and Republicans want to spend less. So, to some extent we are swimming against the stream. Therefore, it’s important to note that this money is NOT tax revenue, but a small portion of each hunter’s license fee being used to provide that hunter with a place to sight in and practice with his hunting rifle. As I have told FWP, if people are not shooting, they won’t be hunting and buying hunting licenses, affecting the long term financial health of FWP.

Suppressors. The Montana Stockgrowers Association continues to oppose HB 174 because rancher members think suppressors are like the “silencers” they’ve seen in James Bond movies. They believe that if the archaic law making it illegal to be in the “field or forest” with a suppressor is repealed, as HB 174 would do, people with legally-owned suppressors will suddenly become a rash of undetectable poachers on their ranches. If you know any MSGA members, it is important for them to contact MSGA and ask MSGA to back off its opposition to HB 174 so we can spring it from the Senate Judiciary Committee where it is now tabled.

About Montana Shooting Sports Association:
MSSA is the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners. Visit: www.mtssa.org