Aggressive gun-rights bill widely supported, opposed

Bozeman Daily Chronicle
1/24/2009

At a marathon hearing Thursday, backers and opponents of a bill to expand gun rights in Montana painted distinctly different pictures of the state and its gun laws.

Proponents of House Bill 228 said gun owners in Montana are now held captive by gray areas in Montana statute that could lead to them being prosecuted for defending themselves with their firearm, or even displaying a pistol to deter would-be attackers.

But opponents said the laws already on the books work, and that the expanded gun-rights bill would hamper law enforcement’s ability to prosecute people whom they believe had wrongly used a gun.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel, is almost identical to a bill carried by then-Rep. Jack Wells, R-Bozeman, in the 2007 session.

If passed, the bill would, among other things:

= allow people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit;

= greatly strengthen self-defense protections in the state;

= allow people to display their gun to deter an attack;

= allow people to use a gun whenever at risk of physical harm;

= and, in shooting incidents in which the person who fired the gun claimed self defense, require the state to prove that it was not.

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