- Joined
- Jul 7, 2025
- Messages
- 72
Dear MSSA Friends,
I have some really good news, but I need to tell a story to explain it.
You may remember that back in 1990 Congress passed the nasty Gun Free School Zones Act (GFSZA). This made it a federal crime to be within 1,000 feet of school property with a firearm, unless it was unloaded and locked in the trunk (right, lots of vehicles don't have trunks). It exemped people in their homes who resided within this prohibited zone, and it exempted people who were licensed by the state to carry firearms.
In Montana, schools are on or near major thoroughfares, or along the only route passing through town. Especially during hunting season, this had the potential to make federal felons of most Montanans. This was clearly problematic for Montana, our culture, and our way of life.
Besides, it was just plain stupid. It relied on the idiotic assumption that a person who had decided to commit the most heinous offense imaginable, killing children, during which the perp would probably also die, would give up on the planned mayhem because he would first know of and second be deterred by this insanely stupid, anti-gun law.
In 1995, I set out to fix Monana's problem with the GFSZA. I wrote and MSSA got passed a bill that declared that all law abiding Montanans are considered to be licensed by the state and therefore exempt from the GFSZA. The new law that we created in 1995 says:
"45-8-360. Establishment of individual licensure. In consideration that the right to keep and bear arms is protected and reserved to the people in Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution, a person who has not been convicted of a violent, felony crime and who is lawfully able to own or to possess a firearm under the Montana constitution is considered to be individually licensed and verified by the state of Montana within the meaning of the provisions regarding individual licensure and verification in the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act."
All has been quiet about the GFSZA in Montana until a couple of years ago. Gabriel Metcalf lived with his mother in Billings and near an elementary school. Metcalf had a conflict with a neighbor who had tried to burn the house where Metcalf and his mother lived. Metcalf got a restraining order against the neighbor, but the neighbor violated that. Metcalf began patrolling his yard with a single shot 20 gauge shotgun.
School officials complained, even though school was not yet in session for the year and no kids were present. The Billings Gazette jumped on the bandwagon demanding something be done. The police department held that Metcalf was breaking no state law. So, the Democrat-appointed US Attorney for Montana, Jesse Laslovich, had Metcalf arrested and charged Metcalf with violating the federal GFSZA. Metcalf did not qualify for the resident exception to the GFSZA, the prosecution alleged, because he had stepped onto the public sidewalk during one of his patrols around his yard.
This federal case came before federal District Court Judge Susan Watters. Metcalf had a federal public defender attorney who did a good job and made all the right arguments. Judge Watters quickly rejected the argument that Metcalf was exempt from the GFSZA because he was licensed by the state by the law MSSA got passed in 1995. Metcalf was convicted of violating the GFSZA, a federal felony.
Metcalf appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of appeals, maybe the most politically liberal federal Circuit Court in the US. Again, the federal public defenders did a good job of making the right arguments at the Ninth.
Here is the good news:
A three judge panel of the Ninth just reversed the District Court and dismissed the original indictment against Metcalf! The decision was written by Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee and a former Solicitor General for the State of Montana. As Judge VanDyke articulated in his Opinion, dismissing the indictment of Metcalf for violating the GFSZA was because of the law MSSA got passed in 1995, just one of MSSA's 73 legislative successes.
Why is this important? It's a win for Metcalf over his harassment by the feds. It's a win for states rights, Montana, and Montana gun owners. And, it's a win for MSSA and its ongoing fight to assert the right to keep and bear arms in Montana. I suspect other states will now copy our Montana law.
If you, Reader, are not already an MSSA member, you should join at mtssa.org.
So, there is your dose of good news for the day, and very good news it is.
Best wishes,
--
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
Author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com
I'm a life member of MSSA. Anybody want a brochure on MSSA and info on joining send me a private message with your snail mail address and I'll send a brochure.
I have some really good news, but I need to tell a story to explain it.
You may remember that back in 1990 Congress passed the nasty Gun Free School Zones Act (GFSZA). This made it a federal crime to be within 1,000 feet of school property with a firearm, unless it was unloaded and locked in the trunk (right, lots of vehicles don't have trunks). It exemped people in their homes who resided within this prohibited zone, and it exempted people who were licensed by the state to carry firearms.
In Montana, schools are on or near major thoroughfares, or along the only route passing through town. Especially during hunting season, this had the potential to make federal felons of most Montanans. This was clearly problematic for Montana, our culture, and our way of life.
Besides, it was just plain stupid. It relied on the idiotic assumption that a person who had decided to commit the most heinous offense imaginable, killing children, during which the perp would probably also die, would give up on the planned mayhem because he would first know of and second be deterred by this insanely stupid, anti-gun law.
In 1995, I set out to fix Monana's problem with the GFSZA. I wrote and MSSA got passed a bill that declared that all law abiding Montanans are considered to be licensed by the state and therefore exempt from the GFSZA. The new law that we created in 1995 says:
"45-8-360. Establishment of individual licensure. In consideration that the right to keep and bear arms is protected and reserved to the people in Article II, section 12, of the Montana constitution, a person who has not been convicted of a violent, felony crime and who is lawfully able to own or to possess a firearm under the Montana constitution is considered to be individually licensed and verified by the state of Montana within the meaning of the provisions regarding individual licensure and verification in the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act."
All has been quiet about the GFSZA in Montana until a couple of years ago. Gabriel Metcalf lived with his mother in Billings and near an elementary school. Metcalf had a conflict with a neighbor who had tried to burn the house where Metcalf and his mother lived. Metcalf got a restraining order against the neighbor, but the neighbor violated that. Metcalf began patrolling his yard with a single shot 20 gauge shotgun.
School officials complained, even though school was not yet in session for the year and no kids were present. The Billings Gazette jumped on the bandwagon demanding something be done. The police department held that Metcalf was breaking no state law. So, the Democrat-appointed US Attorney for Montana, Jesse Laslovich, had Metcalf arrested and charged Metcalf with violating the federal GFSZA. Metcalf did not qualify for the resident exception to the GFSZA, the prosecution alleged, because he had stepped onto the public sidewalk during one of his patrols around his yard.
This federal case came before federal District Court Judge Susan Watters. Metcalf had a federal public defender attorney who did a good job and made all the right arguments. Judge Watters quickly rejected the argument that Metcalf was exempt from the GFSZA because he was licensed by the state by the law MSSA got passed in 1995. Metcalf was convicted of violating the GFSZA, a federal felony.
Metcalf appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of appeals, maybe the most politically liberal federal Circuit Court in the US. Again, the federal public defenders did a good job of making the right arguments at the Ninth.
Here is the good news:
A three judge panel of the Ninth just reversed the District Court and dismissed the original indictment against Metcalf! The decision was written by Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Trump appointee and a former Solicitor General for the State of Montana. As Judge VanDyke articulated in his Opinion, dismissing the indictment of Metcalf for violating the GFSZA was because of the law MSSA got passed in 1995, just one of MSSA's 73 legislative successes.
Why is this important? It's a win for Metcalf over his harassment by the feds. It's a win for states rights, Montana, and Montana gun owners. And, it's a win for MSSA and its ongoing fight to assert the right to keep and bear arms in Montana. I suspect other states will now copy our Montana law.
If you, Reader, are not already an MSSA member, you should join at mtssa.org.
So, there is your dose of good news for the day, and very good news it is.
Best wishes,
--
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
Author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com
I'm a life member of MSSA. Anybody want a brochure on MSSA and info on joining send me a private message with your snail mail address and I'll send a brochure.
