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Campus Carry Bill in Montana Halted by Judge

Campus Carry Bill in Montana Halted by Judge

“bill that would expand permissions for concealed carry firearms on campus starting June 1”

The board of regents doesn’t like the new law and is trying to challenge it. Not exactly something you’d expect in Montana.

The Montana Free Press reports:

Judge temporarily halts campus carry bill

A district court judge on Friday temporarily enjoined the enforcement date of House Bill 102, the bill that would expand permissions for concealed carry firearms on campus starting June 1. The order by Judge Mike McMahon in Lewis and Clark County came in response to a suit filed by the Montana University System Board of Regents, which voted unanimously last week to challenge the new law in court.

In his ruling, McMahon wrote that the board would “suffer immediate and irreparable injury” if the law was allowed to go into effect before the case could proceed. The order applies only to the June 1 effective date and other portions of the bill pertaining to the Montana University System (MUS). Other sections of the bill that allow concealed carry in other public settings took effect when Gov. Greg Gianforte signed HB 102 in February.

In its motion seeking declaratory and injunctive relief this week, attorneys representing the Board of Regents argued that the board retains constitutional authority “to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the presence and use of firearms on MUS campuses,” and that through HB 102 the Legislature wrongly sought to intervene in the university system.

Attorneys also said that 40,000 students could be confused about whether to comply with HB 102 or with existing policies restricting firearms on campus if the bill were to go into effect while litigation is ongoing. The filing noted that university students, parents and other stakeholders have shared “grave concern” in public comments about maintaining campus safety, student and faculty retention and suicide prevention efforts under HB 102.

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Comments

Dolce Far Niente | May 31, 2021 at 11:25 am

That pesky old Bill of Rights continues to cause progressives to
“suffer immediate and irreparable injury”: its great that they can find a judge to legislate on their behalf.

Montana is a purple state. They just reelected Sen. Jon Tester (Dem) over a well qualified conservative challenger. I don’t know if Dominion is actually what decided that race, but the pundits say it’s because of the lefty university population in several of the cities — and not a lot of people under the big skies of the rest of the state to outvote them.

henrybowman | May 31, 2021 at 11:46 am

“The board of regents doesn’t like the new law and is trying to challenge it. Not exactly something you’d expect in Montana.”

1. An organization of academics? Yeah, you’d expect this in any state.

2. Keep in mind that “free” states are almost always free in spite of their officials, rarely because of them.

It’s almost never so much who is out in front as it is how successfully they can be leashed and brought to heel.

daniel_ream | May 31, 2021 at 12:35 pm

the Board of Regents argued that the board retains constitutional authority “to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the presence and use of firearms on MUS campuses,”

Can someone unpack this for me? Which constitution are they referring to?

    George_Kaplan in reply to daniel_ream. | May 31, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    Rights on campus are what the woke elite running campuses say they are, not what the Constitution claims they are.

Judge isn’t exactly known for his lack of bias.

Same thing happened a few years ago in Austin when “campus carry” was passed. All the progs on campus got the vapors and they tried everything to stop it.

But in the end it became the law. And then…. crickets. No “crime wave” as the vapid progs predicted. But also no follow up by the media, which suggests to me that there was probably a decrease in the incidence of assault, rape, etc.

I’ll give you one guess who Judge McMahon voted for in November 2020. Hint: it wasn’t Donald Trump.

michellevallie | June 1, 2021 at 3:21 pm

In my opinion the Board of Regents should not have absolute authority if it violates the Montana Constitution which has clear language about an individual‘s right to bear arms (see Article 2 sec 12) congruent with the US Supreme Court case precedent including DC v. Heller. All of the post-Heller cases, including McDonald, NRA v. Chicago, and Nordyke v. King argued that the Second Amendment, in addition to applying to federal jurisdictions, should also be applied against state and local governments, (selective incorporation). Some individuals in Montana bring up the argument that public schools ban guns; thus, it should also apply to college campuses. This issue is not applicable, as there are clear 1st Amendment and 2nd Amendment limitations for minors. In the decision of State ex rel. Veeder v. State Board of Education, the Montana Supreme Court supported granting general powers and duties to the MT Board of Education with a substantial measure of autonomy. Once the legislature grants such power to these independent boards, the courts are inclined to interpret their power broadly. However, there are certain areas to which even constitutionally created boards must be subservient. In the general area of social welfare, civil rights and health codes, the courts regard the board as subservient to the legislature. Thus, the case could be made that 2nd Amendment rights are not within the constitutional purview of the MT Board of Regents due to U.S. Supreme court precedent, MT state Constitutional language, and the Selective Incorporation clause.