Montana House Weighs Elimination of Many State-Mandated Gun Free Zones

The Montana House will soon vote on legislation to defend self-defense rights by eliminating state government-mandated gun free zones at Montana university campuses and other schools on public property.

The self-defense legislation, House Bill 102, is sponsored by Rep. Seth Berglee (R-Dist. 58).

HB 102 is presented as an Act “to enhance the safety of people by expanding their legal ability to provide for their own defense by reducing or eliminating government-mandated places were only criminals are armed and where citizens are prevented from exercising their fundamental right to defend themselves and others.”

The Act states:

Nowhere in Article X, section 9(2)(a), of the Montana constitution is any power granted to amend, suspend, alter, or abolish the Montana constitution, nor is any power granted to affect or interfere with the rights the people have reserved to themselves specifically from interference by government entities and government actors in Article II of the Montana constitution. 

The school and the Montana university system were created and are controlled by the Montana constitution and the land and buildings occupied by schools and the university system are public property and not private property and are therefore government entities. 

Any significant prohibition upon the possession of firearms at or on the various campuses of the Montana university system calls into question the rights that the people have reserved to protect themselves from government interference under Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution. 

Campus carry is currently the law of the land in 11 states. Those states are Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin.

It is important to remember campus carry laws vary by state. For instance, the Texas law applies to concealed carry permit holders in general while Giffords reports the Tennessee carry law currently applies only to institution employees on campus.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.