Libertyteeth
Member
Good news from Gary Marbut.
Committee passes HB 340 - Self Defense
From:
Gary Marbut-MSSA <[email protected]>
To:
[email protected]
Date:
Yesterday 11:57:13 pm
Dear MSSA Friends,
The House Judiciary Committee worked on HB 340, MSSA's flagship Self
Defense bill over two different days. *The good news is that the
Committee passed the bill by a near-unanimous (one vote against)
vote. *The bad news is that we lost a couple of chunks of the
bill. *More good news is that about 80% of the bill is still intact,
and a LOT of really good stuff is left in the bill.
The two big chunks we lost were:
1) *A section allowing a court to award court costs and attorney fees
to cover legal expenses fighting criminal charges that are dismissed
or for which the accused is exonerated when the accused claims self
defense. *The discussions centered around who would pay these fees
(city, county, state, etc.) and whether this would set a precedent
for payment of attorney fees in other cases. *We put this in the bill
to dissuade heavy charging by prosecutors to force plea bargains and
guilty pleas by running up the cost of defense. *It's gone from the bill now.
2) *A section specifying that employers could not ban guns in the
workplace - that employees could not be prohibited the means of
defending themselves, and that employers could not prohibit employees
from having firearms in their vehicles in the company parking
lot. *MSSA suggested an amendment to do the first, because we saw
this provision as drawing too much opposition to the bill. *The
Committee did the second because of concerns about violating
employer/employee contracts.
Audio files of legislative committee meetings are available on the
Legislature's Website. *These audio files are for full committee
meetings, usually about four hours long. *In case anyone wants to
listen to them, I have clipped the portion of the House Judiciary
Committee discussion of HB 340 and posted them at:
http://marbut.com/hb340/
All in all we consider this to be a win, so far.
HB 340 will now advance to Second Reading on the House floor where it
will be debated and discussed by all 100 members of the House. *There
may be other attempts to amend HB 340 on the floor of the House on
Second Reading.
SO NOW IS THE TIME TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK HIM OR HER
TO SUPPORT HB 340 IN THE FORM IN WHICH IT CAME OUT OF COMMITTEE!
This is our big bill, folks, so please get those messages in to your
Representative.
Thanks,
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com
Committee passes HB 340 - Self Defense
From:
Gary Marbut-MSSA <[email protected]>
To:
[email protected]
Date:
Yesterday 11:57:13 pm
Dear MSSA Friends,
The House Judiciary Committee worked on HB 340, MSSA's flagship Self
Defense bill over two different days. *The good news is that the
Committee passed the bill by a near-unanimous (one vote against)
vote. *The bad news is that we lost a couple of chunks of the
bill. *More good news is that about 80% of the bill is still intact,
and a LOT of really good stuff is left in the bill.
The two big chunks we lost were:
1) *A section allowing a court to award court costs and attorney fees
to cover legal expenses fighting criminal charges that are dismissed
or for which the accused is exonerated when the accused claims self
defense. *The discussions centered around who would pay these fees
(city, county, state, etc.) and whether this would set a precedent
for payment of attorney fees in other cases. *We put this in the bill
to dissuade heavy charging by prosecutors to force plea bargains and
guilty pleas by running up the cost of defense. *It's gone from the bill now.
2) *A section specifying that employers could not ban guns in the
workplace - that employees could not be prohibited the means of
defending themselves, and that employers could not prohibit employees
from having firearms in their vehicles in the company parking
lot. *MSSA suggested an amendment to do the first, because we saw
this provision as drawing too much opposition to the bill. *The
Committee did the second because of concerns about violating
employer/employee contracts.
Audio files of legislative committee meetings are available on the
Legislature's Website. *These audio files are for full committee
meetings, usually about four hours long. *In case anyone wants to
listen to them, I have clipped the portion of the House Judiciary
Committee discussion of HB 340 and posted them at:
http://marbut.com/hb340/
All in all we consider this to be a win, so far.
HB 340 will now advance to Second Reading on the House floor where it
will be debated and discussed by all 100 members of the House. *There
may be other attempts to amend HB 340 on the floor of the House on
Second Reading.
SO NOW IS THE TIME TO CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK HIM OR HER
TO SUPPORT HB 340 IN THE FORM IN WHICH IT CAME OUT OF COMMITTEE!
This is our big bill, folks, so please get those messages in to your
Representative.
Thanks,
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com