(CLICK HERE for this
Questionnaire as an MSWord file.)
MONTANA SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION
2020 GOVERNOR CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
(MUST be returned by 5PM, March 27, 2020 (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 upgrade 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: 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 a 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: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
3. Prohibit enforcement of new federal gun laws by Montana
public employees. Every week there is talk of a new
federal gun control bill, to limit magazine capacity, to outlaw
semi-auto rifles, to ban common bullets, to limit the number of
firearms a person may own, to ban certain accessories, and many
more. The principle has already been established by the U.S.
Supreme Court (Printz v. US) that the federal government may
not commandeer state and local government employees to implement
federal programs. We propose that Montana public employees be
prohibited by state law from enforcing, or assisting to enforce, any
federal gun laws that are not already in effect.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billhtml/HB0203.htm
I would: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
4. Allow safe travel to work and employee property right
inside private vehicles. Employees have a property right
to what they choose to have inside their vehicles, whether Bibles,
newspapers, or firearms. Employees also have a constitutional
right to be equipped to provide for their own personal protection
when traveling to and from work. However, many private
employers have made it a termination offense for an employee to have
a firearm locked in the employee's vehicle if that vehicle is parked
in a company parking lot. Such employers assume no
responsibility for employee safety during travel to and from
work. We propose that employers be prohibited from firing
employees only because that employee has a firearm locked in a
privately owned vehicle in a company parking lot. This bill
would require that any such firearms also be out of sight from
outside the vehicle.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2013/billhtml/HB0571.htm
I would: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
5. “Gun free zones.” Alleged "gun free zones"
are very dangerous places, and never "gun free" for criminals, but
only for victims. There is a badly-conceived statute at
45-8-328 to regulate "prohibited places." This law allows
anyone to carry a firearm openly (go figure) in the listed places
but prohibits those who have taken training, had a background check,
obtained a concealed weapon permit from their sheriff from
exercising their concealed weapon permit in these “prohibited
places.” We propose that this archaic and bad law be corrected
to allow trained, sheriff-certified, and permitted citizens to be
exempt from these “prohibited places” where anyone may now carry
openly.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/BillHtml/HB0371.htm
I would: 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.
https://progunleaders.org/SheriffsFirst/
I would: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
7. Harmonizing concealed weapon permit (CWP) requirements
- “permitless carry”. Since 1991, a CWP has not been
required for a law-abiding person to carry a concealed weapon in
99.4% of Montana - outside the limits of cities or towns. With
over two decades of experience that not requiring CWPs for nearly
all of Montana has not created any problems, we propose a bill to
harmonize the law so a permit will no longer be required for a law
abiding person to carry a concealed weapon in the remaining small
6/10ths of 1% of Montana, inside cities and towns. We intend
to leave the permitting process in place, so citizens who desire
them may still obtain CWPs for travel to other states that recognize
Montana CWPs, and for firearm purchases at gun stores under the
federal Brady Law. This change would exclude criminals from
applicability - it would still be illegal for criminals to carry
concealed weapons. The current system is effectively "coat
control." That is, if wearing a firearm inside city limits, a
person my not also wear a coat (that could cover the firearm)
without a government permit. It is pretty nonsensical in
Montana to prohibit wearing a coat without government permission.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billhtml/HB0298.htm
I would: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
8. Clarify authority of school boards for firearms
violations. An underreported tragedy in Montana is the
number of students who have been disciplined, many expelled, for
forgetting that their hunting rifle was locked in their vehicle,
usually from a weekend hunt. When such a condition occurs in a
school parking lot, ill-informed administrators usually tell
reviewing school boards (incorrectly) that the board has no choice
but to expel offending students because of mandatory federal
law. However, unknown to these poorly-informed administrators,
federal law on the subject specifically excludes from consideration
any firearm locked in a vehicle in a school parking lot. About
450 Montana high school students have been expelled, and had their
academic aspirations ruined for life, over this issue. We
propose a bill to clarify for uninformed administrators and
misinformed school boards that firearms locked in a student vehicle
does not mandate expulsion, but that school boards have full
discretion to apply discipline as needed and appropriate to the
ingredients of the incident. This bill would NOT deprive
school boards of tools to deal with genuine safety problems, but
would clarify that firearms locked in vehicles do not MANDATE
student expulsion.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billhtml/HB0320.htm
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 Montana people 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 2021 legislative session, regardless of any FWP resistance to
that level of funding.
I would: 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 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: 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
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.
http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billpdf/SB0130.pdf
I would: 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: Support( ) Be Neutral( )
Oppose( )
13. Preemption and LR-130. Montana has a
“preemption law” at 45-8-351. M.C.A., to effectively implement
Article II, Section 12 of the Montana Constitution by prohibiting
local governments from regulating firearms. Notwithstanding
our preemption law, the City of Missoula recently attempted to
impose a type of gun control known as a “universal background
check,” to require a federal background check for most private
transfers of firearms. Ultimately, both the Attorney General
and the Montana Supreme Court held that Missoula's ordinance
violated Montana's preemption law. To forestall future
attempts such as Missoula's and clarify existing law, the
Legislature passed HB 357, which created Legislative Referendum #
130 (LR-130). This measure will be on the ballot in November
for a public vote. LR-130 is intended to strengthen Montana's
existing preemption law and to further clarify that local
governments may not regulate firearms and may not create a patchwork
of gun control across Montana. Do you:
( ) Support LR-130
( ) Oppose LR-130
( ) Take no position on LR-130
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 will probably be introduced again in 2021.
About such a bill, would you:
( ) Support
( ) Be neutral
( ) Oppose
The foregoing responses are actually my positions on these issues,
to the best of my knowledge and at this time.
NOTE: This Candidate Questionnaire released electronically on
March 10, 2020. Any candidates with Primary Election
challenges MUST have their CQ returned electronically, and no later
than 5PM, Monday, March 27, 2020, for MSSA's candidate evaluations
for the June Primary elections. Thank you.
Thank you for being willing to serve your 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: