Opinion: Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA)
I have detected some really ugly gun control leaking into Montana from liberal states.
How can that happen, you ask. The Legislature is not in session, and even when it is, MSSA kills any gun control bills so they can’t become bad law here.
Here is how it happens. An upstanding guy married and living in Montana called an old girlfriend living in the Seattle area, to ask a question. That’s all he did, ask a question.
The former girlfriend contacted local (in Washington) police and reported that she’d felt threatened. Washington has Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs or a “Red Flag Law”) (Note – Montana law prohibits ERPOs), under which a judge can issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in an “ex parte” (only the accuser’s side of the story is told) manner.
A Washington judge issued a TRO that, among other restraints, prohibited this Montana guy from possessing firearms.
The TRO was communicated to the town where the Montana guy lives and the local police department enforced the TRO by confiscating all of this Montana guy’s firearms. Done.
Because this guy had not been to Washington in three decades and because the accusing girlfriend recanted her story of threat, the judge reviewing the TRO dismissed it.
However, this Montana victim still cannot get his firearms returned.
Washington has a California-style, ten-day waiting period before a firearm may be transferred. Therefore, the Washington court must wait another ten days before officially notifying the Montana police department that it may return the victim’s firearms. Meanwhile, the victim has had to engage both a Washington attorney and a Montana attorney.
What a travesty! MSSA has spent decades working hard in Helena to give Montana the best and fewest gun laws in the Nation. Notwithstanding the 73 pro-gun laws MSSA has gotten passed in Montana, we have this BS gun control from liberal states leaching across the state line and affecting Montana gun owners. If you detect that I’m having trouble restricting myself to polite language, you’re right. If you imagine I’m beyond angry, you’re right again.
Even worse, once the Washington court notifies the Montana police department that it can return this victim’s firearms, this is likely far from the end of his problems. What else?
The FEDs. You see, once the TRO was entered into court computers, it also went straight to the feds.
They will likely have designated this guy as a “prohibited person” under federal law whereby he cannot legally possess firearms or ammunition. That means that if he accepts return of his improperly-taken firearms, he may be committing a federal felony crime.
If the feds get the notice of dismissal of the TRO, that will NOT cause them to update the guy’s record and remove the “prohibited person” status. Getting that done is a heavy lift indeed, and would require hiring even more lawyers. Until recently, it was flat impossible (any legal nerds read the SCOTUS decision in United States v. Bean 2002).
There are a whole bunch of problems with this picture: A Washington anti-gun ERPO being enforced in Montana; a Washington anti-gun 10-day waiting period being enforced in Montana; Montana cops without the good sense to ask their county attorney before enforcing this, or put this TRO on the bottom of next months to-do list, but eager to rush out and confiscate guns; and feds being in the position of effectuating laws of anti-gun states in pro-gun states. Gaahhh!
You won’t be surprised to hear that I am already drafting a bill for the next session of the Montana Legislature to head off any future occurrence of this sick phenomenon. Crafting and pushing this bill is just one more example of how MSSA goes to bat for Montana gun owners.
So, that’s how BS gun control pollution is leaching across Montana borders from other states where there is effectively no RKBA.
Best wishes,
About Gary Marbut
Longtime Montana political observer and participant Gary Marbut is president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners.
