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Montana's Governor has now signed HB 246 the "Made in Montana" exemption law.

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This looks like some good news.

At least for those that live in Montana.



http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246.htm

HOUSE BILL NO. 246

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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 status of this bill for the bill's primary sponsor.

Status of this Bill | 2009 Legislature | Leg. Branch Home
This bill in WP 5.1 | All versions of all bills (WP 5.1 format)
Authorized print version w/line numbers (PDF format)
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Prepared by Montana Legislative Services
(406) 444-3064​


Montana's Governor has now signed HB 246 the "Made in Montana" exemption law. It is pretty cool how this law classifies "sound suppressors" as mere "accessories." Presumably, after October 1, 2009, this mean there will be no Federal $200 transfer tax applicable on a Montana-made sound suppressor "accessory" unless or until it is transferred out of 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.

Damn. I was already looking at real estate.
 
I love living in this state!
I hear you have a wonderful state.

How about if you tell your governor that gun owners in all of the New England states with carry permits don't have to disarm to do their banking, and ask that you get a similar freedom in the big sky country?

The feds will never let that law stick (just like the refused to let the Idaho indictment of FBI sniper Horuchi stand), but it's great anyhow - especially the bore diameter three times the federal limit.
 
That's Montana saying that they won't stand for the stuff the current administration is trying to push through. I have been waiting for a state to step up and say "hands off our guns".
I'm pretty good with dealing with cold, maybe a move is in my future. I'll go where ever my rights are being the least violated.
 
How about if you tell your governor that gun owners in all of the New England states with carry permits don't have to disarm to do their banking, and ask that you get a similar freedom in the big sky country?

Minor details, when compared to the crap we put up here in MA. There were no metal detectors at the banks I went to in MT. [wink]
 
Cool!

(4) a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing device.

Would if pull and release could be considered two activations of the trigger?
 
A couple of naive questions:

What does this mean or change for gun ownership in MT?

What kind of teeth does this bill have, other than as a symbolic act of defiance to the feds? (Not that I'm minimizing that.) After all, MT insisted on not having speed limits until the feds said "Um, but did you actually WANT the billions of dollars we were planning on giving you to maintain your highways, nudge nudge wink wink?"
 
And for those of you in Massachusetts we the .gov give you the following... an 'approved' firearms roster and no sales of ammunition or components from out-of-state.

The two states couldn't be more dissimilar!
 
"two or more projectiles"

Which leaves shotguns where?

Instead of selectively cherry-picking sections without context, you might want to try reading the entire sentence:

a firearm that discharges two or more projectiles with one activation of the trigger or other firing device.

I have yet to see any commonly available, non-NFA shotgun that will fire more than once with "one activation of the trigger or other firing device".
 
Instead of selectively cherry-picking sections without context, you might want to try reading the entire sentence:



I have yet to see any commonly available, non-NFA shotgun that will fire more than once with "one activation of the trigger or other firing device".

What he's getting at is that shot is actually a bunch of small, individual projectiles contained in one cartridge/round/shotshell. The wording, while probably not malicious against shotguns, could potentially be twisted in a bad way.
 
What he's getting at is that shot is actually a bunch of small, individual projectiles contained in one cartridge/round/shotshell. The wording, while probably not malicious against shotguns, could potentially be twisted in a bad way.

Given the assertiveness of this legislation, I'm sure shotgun owners have little to worry about.
 
Montana CCW laws do not allow carrying of firearms into banks or any facility that serves alcohol. However, it seems that both of these provisions are disregarded at times here. I have seen numerous examples of both (mainly printing).
Comparatively, with the other gun laws in Mass (high capacity/ state approval etc), I will still take Montana any day.
 
A couple of naive questions:

What does this mean or change for gun ownership in MT?

What kind of teeth does this bill have, other than as a symbolic act of defiance to the feds? (Not that I'm minimizing that.) After all, MT insisted on not having speed limits until the feds said "Um, but did you actually WANT the billions of dollars we were planning on giving you to maintain your highways, nudge nudge wink wink?"

I don't know of any federal money that has firearms laws attached. They never had to do it, so they never did.

The real test is when someone gets arrested for a SBR or something and the case goes to the SCOTUS.
 
I love the fact that if the fed fights this in the supreme court, they have a great chance of losing to MT in a 5/4 or 6/3 ruling, menaing that the interstate commerce clause will be restricted to where our founders believe it should be, and that would turn back every federally forced regulation and return power to the states.

Don't forget that the word "Regulate" had a different meaning at the time of the Constitution's writing, it meant "to keep regular", it did not mean to control.
 
Feel like going home.. Born in Hobson MT.. Just west of Lewistown.. Came east after the war and cant convince the wife to leave New England... Maybe someday
 
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