- MONTANA SOVEREIGNTY BILLS HAVE NATIONAL SCOPE
-
- HELENA, Mont. (AP) - Gov. Brian Schweitzer has signed
into law a bill that aims to exempt Montana-made guns from federal regulation.
-
- House Bill 246 was sponsored by Republican Rep. Joel
Boniek of Livingston. It applies only to guns made and kept in Montana.
-
- Its supporters hope it triggers a court case to test
the legal basis for federal rules governing gun sales.
-
- The measure is 1 of many introduced this year by state
lawmakers across the nation that seek to assert state sovereignty.
-
- Along with the gun bill, Montana legislators are also
considering a resolution that affirms the federal government only has those
powers listed in the U.S. Constitution.
- House Resolution 3 follows an effort that failed earlier
this session. It was heard Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee.
-
- Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
-
- http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=10190400
-
-
- MONTANA GOVERNOR SIGNS NEW GUN LAW
-
- Executive Summary - The USA state of Montana has
signed into power a revolutionary gun law. I mean REVOLUTIONARY. The State
of Montana has defied the federal government and their gun laws. This will
prompt a showdown between the federal government and the State of Montana.
The federal government fears citizens owning guns. They try to curtail
what types of guns they can own. The gun control laws all have one common
goal confiscation of privately owned firearms.
-
- Montana has gone beyond drawing a line in the sand. They
have challenged the Federal Government. The fed now either takes them on
and risks them saying the federal agents have no right to violate their
state gun laws and arrest the federal agents that try to enforce the federal
firearms acts. This will be a world-class event to watch. Montana could
go to voting for secession from the union, which is really throwing the
gauntlet in Obama's face. If the federal government does nothing they lose
face. Gotta love it.
-
- Important Points If guns and ammunition are manufactured
inside the State of Montana for sale and use inside that state then the
federal firearms laws have no applicability since the federal government
only has the power to control commerce across state lines. Montana has
the law on their side. Since when did the USA start following their own
laws especially the constitution of the USA, the very document that empowers
the USA.
-
- Silencers made in Montana and sold in Montana would be
fully legal and not registered. As a note silencers were first used before
the 007 movies as a device to enable one to hunt without disturbing neighbors
and scaring game. They were also useful as devices to control noise when
practicing so as to not disturb the neighbors.
-
- Silencers work best with a bolt-action rifle. There is
a long barrel and the chamber is closed tight so as to direct all the gases
though the silencer at the tip of the barrel. Semi-auto pistols and revolvers
do not really muffle the sound very well except on the silver screen. The
revolvers bleed gas out with the sound all over the place. The semi-auto
pistols bleed the gases out when the slide recoils back.
-
- Silencers are maybe nice for snipers picking off enemy
soldiers even though they reduce velocity but not very practical for hit
men shooting pistols in crowded places. Silencers were useful tools for
gun enthusiasts and hunters.
-
- There would be no firearm registration, serial numbers,
criminal records check, waiting periods or paperwork required. So in a
short period of time there would be millions and millions of unregistered
untraceable guns in Montana. Way to go Montana!
-
- Discussion Let us see what Obama does. If he hits
Montana hard they will probably vote to secede from the USA. The governor
of Texas has already been refusing Federal money because he does not want
to agree to the conditions that go with it and he has been saying secession
is a right they have as sort of a threat. Things are no longer the same
with the USA. Do not be deceived by Obama acting as if all is the same,
it is not.
-
-
- Text of the New Law:
-
- HOUSE BILL NO. 246
-
- INTRODUCED BY J. BONIEK, BENNETT, BUTCHER, CURTISS, RANDALL,
WARBURTON
-
- AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE
CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY,
OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MONTANA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY
DATE.
-
- BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
-
- Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 6] may be
cited as the "Montana Firearms Freedom Act".
-
- Section 2. Legislative declarations of authority. The
legislature declares that the authority for [sections 1 through 6] is the
following:
-
- (1) The 10th amendment to the United States constitution
guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the
federal government elsewhere in the constitution and reserves to the state
and people of Montana certain powers as they were understood at the time
that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those powers
is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana and the
United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was
agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.
-
- (2) The ninth amendment to the United States constitution
guarantees to the people rights not granted in the constitution and reserves
to the people of Montana certain rights as they were understood at the
time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889. The guaranty of those
rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of Montana
and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States
was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in 1889.
-
- (3) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in
the states under the 9th and 10th amendments to the United States constitution,
particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law. Congress has not
expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate commerce pertaining
to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of firearms, firearms accessories,
and ammunition.
-
- (4) The second amendment to the United States constitution
reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was
understood at the time that Montana was admitted to statehood in 1889,
and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the state
and people of Montana and the United States as of the time that the compact
with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United
States in 1889.
-
- (5) Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution
clearly secures to Montana citizens, and prohibits government interference
with, the right of individual Montana citizens to keep and bear arms. This
constitutional protection is unchanged from the 1889 Montana constitution,
which was approved by congress and the people of Montana, and the right
exists as it was understood at the time that the compact with the United
States was agreed upon and adopted by Montana and the United States in
1889.
-
- Section 3. Definitions. As used in [sections 1 through
6], the following definitions apply:
-
- (1) "Borders of Montana" means the boundaries
of Montana described in Article I, section 1, of the 1889 Montana constitution.
-
- (2) "Firearms accessories" means items that
are used in conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but are not essential
to the basic function of a firearm, including but not limited to telescopic
or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound suppressors, folding or aftermarket
stocks and grips, speedloaders, ammunition carriers, and lights for target
illumination.
-
- (3) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes
but is not limited to springs, screws, nuts, and pins.
-
- (4) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a
firearm accessory, or ammunition has been created from basic materials
for functional usefulness, including but not limited to forging, casting,
machining, or other processes for working materials.
-
- Section 4. Prohibitions. A personal firearm, a firearm
accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately
in Montana and that remains within the borders of Montana is not subject
to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the
authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by
the legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce.
This section applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that
is manufactured in Montana from basic materials and that can be manufactured
without the inclusion of any significant parts imported from another state.
Generic and insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer
product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition,
and their importation into Montana and incorporation into a firearm, a
firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured in Montana does not subject
the firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition to federal regulation. It
is declared by the legislature that basic materials, such as unmachined
steel and unshaped wood, are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition
and are not subject to congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms
accessories, and ammunition under interstate commerce as if they were actually
firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. The authority of congress
to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does not include authority
to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in Montana
from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into Montana
from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as being
in interstate commerce do not subject a firearm to federal regulation under
interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in conjunction
with a firearm in Montana.
-
- Section 5. Exceptions. [Section 4] does not apply to:
-
- (1) a firearm that cannot be carried and used by one
person;
-
- (2) a firearm that has a bore diameter greater than 1
1/2 inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant;
-
- (3) ammunition with a projectile that explodes using
an explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm;
or
-
- (4) a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles
with one activation of the trigger or other firing device.
-
- Section 6. Marketing of firearms. A firearm manufactured
or sold in Montana under [sections 1 through 6] must have the words "Made
in Montana" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the
receiver or frame.
-
-
- Section 7. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through
6] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 30, and the
provisions of Title 30 apply to [sections 1 through 6].
-
- Section 8. Applicability. [This act] applies to firearms,
firearms accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured, as defined
in [section 3], and retained in Montana after October 1, 2009.
-
- - END -
-
-
- Latest Version of HB 246 (HB0246.ENR)
- Processed for the Web on April 3, 2009 (11:03am)
-
- New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material
appears stricken.
- Sponsor names are handwritten on introduced bills, hence
do not appear on the bill until it is reprinted.
- See the <http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws09/LAW0203W$BSRV.ActionQuery?P_BLTP_BILL_
- TYP_CD=&P_BILL_NO=&P_BILL_DFT_NO=LC0671&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SBJ_DESCR
- =&P_SBJT_SBJ_CD=&P_LST_NM1=&P_ENTY_ID_SEQ=>status
of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.
-
- <http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws09/LAW0203W$BSRV.ActionQuery?P_BLTP_BILL_
- TYP_CD=&P_BILL_NO=&P_BILL_DFT_NO=LC0671&Z_ACTION=Find&P_
- SBJ_DESCR=&P_SBJT_SBJ_CD=&P_LST_NM1=&P_ENTY_ID_SEQ=>Status
of this Bill | <http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws09/LAW0200W$.Startup>2009
Legislature | <http://leg.mt.gov/>Leg. Branch Home
- <http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/HB0299/HB0246_x.wpd>This
bill in WP 5.1 | <http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/>
- All versions of all bills (WP 5.1 format)
- <http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/BillPdf/HB0246.pdf>Authorized
print version w/line numbers (PDF format)
- [ <http://laws.leg.mt.gov/laws09/law0203w$.startup>NEW
SEARCH ]
-
- Prepared by Montana Legislative Services
- (406) 444-3064
- http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246.htm
|