MONTANA SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION
2023 LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
2022 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
(MUST be returned by 5PM, April 3, 2022 (Received
here) for any candidate with a Primary challenge)
Please check the response that best describes your position on
each issue.
1. Sheriffs in the Constitution. In some
states the office of sheriff has been effectively abolished,
usually by moving essential powers from sheriffs into the hands of
a bureaucratically-controlled state police force. Shifting
power from a locally elected official into the hands of unelected,
state-level bureaucrats diminishes liberty, damages
accountability, and shifts even more power from people to
government. To prevent this drift in Montana, MSSA proposes
a constitutional referendum to strengthen the language about the
office of sheriff in the Montana Constitution. This new
language would: 1) Establish the office of sheriff as a
constitutionally-specified office; 2) make the office mandatory
for each county; 3) require that the sheriff always be elected
(not appointed except to fill a mid-term vacancy); 4) specify that
any elector is qualified to seek the office of sheriff; 5) clarify
that the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the
sheriff's county, and 6) reserve essential law enforcement powers
to the sheriff at the county level.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
2. Rights upon release from custody.
Prosecutors routinely demand, and some judges allow, that an
accused-but-innocent (until convicted) person be stripped of
reserved constitutional rights as a condition of release from
custody, EVEN IF abuse of the restricted right had nothing to do
with the alleged offense for which the person was in
custody. Should an accused trespasser be prohibited from
trial by jury, should an accused poacher be prohibited from
political speech, and should an embezzler be prohibited from
possessing firearms? MSSA proposes a law that would clarify
that an accused person may not be stripped of a constitutional
right as a condition of release from custody unless abuse of that
right was an element of the offense for which the person was in
custody.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
4. Non-discrimination over firearms. There are
a number of ways that discrimination against firearms may be
rearing its ugly head. Some lenders and credit or payment
processors are refusing to provide services to entities that
manufacture, distribute or sell firearms. Some insurers may
decline to service firearm-related businesses or firearm
owners. Some private entities with public access may
disallow firearms but fail to offer any actual safety to disarmed
people. Some employers may disallow safe travel to and from
work by prohibiting firearms in employees' private vehicles.
All of these are discriminatory. MSSA proposes legislation
to prohibit discrimination against firearms manufactures,
distributors, sellers, and owners.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
5. Power of the Board of Regents. The Board of
Regents has sued to block the campus carry feature of HB 102 from
the 2021 session. The Regents assert that the power given to
them in Article X of the Montana Constitution to manage the
affairs of the university system allows them to ignore the right
to keep or bear arms that the people have reserved to themselves
in Article II of the Constitution. We propose a
constitutional referendum to clarify that the Regents are subject
to other parts of the Constitution and not only Article X, are
subject to laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the
Governor, and also to give the Governor the power to veto any act
by the Board of Regents.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
6. Sheriffs First - Law Enforcement Cooperation.
Many Montanans, both citizens and people in public office, are
concerned about the lack of accountability of federal officers
conducting law enforcement operations in Montana. In
Montana, we know our county sheriff. He is elected and
accountable locally. We believe the sheriff is the chief law
enforcement officer in the county, and ought to have the tools to
implement that status. MSSA will offer a bill to require federal
officers to obtain the written permission of the local sheriff
before conducting an arrest, search, or seizure in the sheriff’s
county. There are exceptions for federal reservations,
Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service, close
pursuit, when a federal officer witnesses a crime that requires an
immediate response, if the sheriff or his personnel are under
investigation, and other necessary exceptions. This bill was
passed by the Legislature in 1995, but was vetoed by the Governor.
See: http://www.SheriffsFirst.net
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
7. "Shall not be called in question." The
Montana Constitution says at Article II, Section 12 that the right
to keep or bear arms "shall not be called in question ..."
The 2017 legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 11 that, for
the first time in Montana history, defined the phrase "shall not
be called in question" and set standards for how the phrase should
be applied. We propose that the Legislature's opinion with
SJ 11 be made into a law to guide the application of Article II,
Section 12.
See: https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2017/billpdf/SJ0011.pdf
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
8. Constitutional cleanup. The Montana
Constitution's reservation of the right to keep or bear arms
contains this archaic language from the territorial constitution
of 1884, "... but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit
the carrying of concealed weapons." This was a cultural
issue in 1884 and was likely copied from the Missouri Constitution
of that time. For Missouri, this was probably a
Reconstruction-era, Jim Crow provision intended to help keep freed
slaves disarmed, defenseless, and subservient. We propose a
constitutional referendum to remove this archaic provision from
the Montana Constitution.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
9. Shooting range funding. Montana began using some
hunter license money to make matching grants to develop shooting
ranges in 1989. The program to build safe and suitable
places for Montanans to shoot was put into state law in 1999, as
the Shooting Range Development Program (SRDP). The funds for
this program are approved each legislative session in the
appropriations process for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and
Parks budget. There are no general tax revenues used for
this program, only the money hunters pay for licenses. The
2007 Legislature appropriated $1,000,000 for the SRDP. The
Legislature appropriated $600,000 in 2009, and about $650,000 in
2011 and 2013. We ask that $1,000,000 be appropriated to the
SRDP in the 2023 legislative session, regardless of any FWP
resistance to that level of funding.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
10. Shooting range property taxes. Most
shooting ranges in Montana are owned and operated by nonprofit
entities and function as a considerable community service and
resource. In order to avoid property taxes that could make
shooting ranges financially impossible, many of these entities
seek 501(c) status from the IRS. This takes them off the tax
rolls, but also causes other problems for such entities, such as
administrative maintenance to keep the federal tax exempt
status. We propose that shooting ranges owned and operated
by Montana nonprofit entities be exempt from property taxes, so as
to not drive them into the clutches of the IRS to become a
501(c). Because they already pay no property taxes as a
501(c), there would be little loss of revenue to Montana from
this, but it would free up many shooting ranges from being under
the thumb of the IRS vis-a-vis their 501(c) status.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
11. Reinvigorate the Montana Home Guard. One
thing we learned from the incredible fires last summer (other than
that we must do a better job of managing our public lands) is that
the Governor and county sheriff could certainly use a trained and
equipped resource pool of personnel and equipment to draw on, a
pool that is not as expensive as the National Guard is and that is
not subject to federal control as the National Guard is. The
Montana Home Guard is an honored state institution that exists in
law only, but because of the skeletal laws it does not exist in
practice. We recommend legislation that would better define
the nature, mission(s), and organization of the Montana Home
Guard, the units of which would be under the control of and
available to the Governor and county sheriffs. Such units
could be medical, forestry, transportation, communication, or
others.
See: http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billpdf/SB0130.pdf
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
12. Higher education and shooting sports.
Montana produces a number of competitive young shooters way
disproportionate to our population. Many Montana youth
accept shooting scholarships at out-of-state universities because
Montana offers no such programs. MSSA proposes a resolution
urging the Board of Regents to encourage shooting sports and
shooting teams at all institutions of higher education in Montana
so that Montana youth may seek shooting scholarships in
Montana. About this proposed resolution:
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
14. Government spending to influence elections outcome.
Any use of taxpayer funds to influence the outcome of elections
has generated two legal axioms about such spending:
1) That when legislative bodies budget and appropriate
taxpayer funds, it is no legitimate part of that appropriation to
influence the outcome of an election. Therefore, any
spending of taxpayer funds that has the effect of taking sides or
influencing an election outcome amounts to theft of public funds;
and
2) Under the “equal stake doctrine,” both the proponents and
opponents of an issue to be publicly decided at an election have
an equal stake in any taxpayer funds used to influence public
opinion on the issue. Therefore, any spending of taxpayer
funds must be neutral (e.g., an AG's ballot statement of intent)
or balanced (e.g., the SoS Voter Information Pamphlet).
Do you believe Montana authorities should take immediate action to
stop any government spending of taxpayer funds that has the effect
of taking sides in an election?
( ) Yes ( )
No ( ) No position
15. "Red flag" laws. Some states have
considered or adopted a type of law that has come to be called a
"red flag" law, or in some cases a Risk Protection Order (RPO).
Proponents allege these laws make people safer by allowing police
to take people's guns if there is an allegation that such persons
might be dangerous to themselves or others. Despite possibly good
intentions of proponents, such laws have serious constitutional
and practical problems. The constitutional problems include
lack of due process and violation of property rights and the right
to keep or bear arms. Some practical problems include that
such a policy fails its intended goal because it leaves an
allegedly dangerous person free to find another way to commit the
predicted mayhem. An RPO bill was introduced unsuccessfully
in the 2019 Legislature and may be introduced again in 2023.
About such a bill, would you:
( ) Support ( )
Be neutral ( ) Oppose
16. The cost of self defense. A person who
legitimately defends himself or herself may still be destroyed
financially by an overzealous or careless criminal
prosecution. We propose that if a person is prosecuted for a
crime, claims self-defense successfully and is not convicted, then
the cost of the person's defense must be awarded to the accused by
the court. This would be a claim against the prosecutor's
budget.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
17. The price of civil rights. There are times
when people's right to keep or bear arms is violated by a
governmental entity. The person complains, but the entity
tells the person to get lost. The person threatens to sue to
get rights enforced by a court. The abusive entity says, so
sue - we have lawyers on staff paid by the taxpayers just to deal
with things like this. The message is, getting correction of
civil rights abuse will be expensive and will eliminate many
citizens from any contest. We propose a law clarifying that
if a person must sue to enforce constitutional rights and the
person prevails, then the person should be awarded the cost of
pursuing the necessary lawsuit.
See: https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billpdf/HB0598.pdf
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
18. Oath of office enforcement. All elected officers
and many public officials are required by the Montana Constitution
and Montana law to swear and file an oath to "support, protect and
defend the constitution." Unfortunately, there is no useful
mechanism in Montana law to hold officials accountable to their
oath, once so sworn. Some take their oath seriously.
Others treat it like a theater ticket stub; to be discarded into
or immediately into the trash or immediately dropped on the floor
to be trod upon once access to the theater or office has been
obtained. MSSA proposes a bill to define violation of oath
of office, to spell out one or more processes to hold
office-holders accountable to their oath, and to provide
consequences for violation of oath of office.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( )
Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
The foregoing responses are actually my positions on these issues,
to the best of my knowledge and at this time.
Candidate Signature (electronic signature accepted)
Date:
Candidate printed name
Office sought
NOTE: This Candidate Questionnaire released electronically
on March 15, 2022. Any candidates with Primary Election
challenges MUST have their CQ returned electronically, and no
later than 5PM, Monday, April 3, 2022, for MSSA's candidate
evaluations for the June Primary elections. Thank you.
Thank you for being willing to serve your community and state in
public office, and thank you very much for providing interested
Montana gun owners with information about your views on issues
important to them.
Please return questionnaire to mssa@mtssa.org (best) or MSSA, P.O.
Box 16106, Missoula 59808.
Any additional comments may be added here or attached: