Montana Governor Greg Gianforte Signs Constitutional Carry Into Law
Jose Nino
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On February 18, 2021, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Constitutional Carry into law.
Under HB 102, lawful individuals who are already eligible to carry under state law can now carry a firearm without a permit.
“Governor Gianforte is a true friend of Montana gun owners,” stated Gun Owners of America’s Senior Vice President Erich Pratt. “The previous, anti-gun governor Steve Bullock kept vetoing legislation to expand permitless carry to the entire state. But with Gianforte, we now have a true Second Amendment champion sitting at the governor’s desk.”
Gianforte’s predecessor, Steve Bullock, was the primary obstacle behind Constitutional Carry’s failure to pass in previous years. Republican incumbent Senator Steve Daines decisively thrashed Bullock in the 2020 elections for Montana’s Senate seat, sending a strong message that going against the will of gun owners will not be tolerated in Montana.
GOA endorsed Gianforte’s bid for Montana Governor. Before Constitutional Carry was passed, Montana law expressly prohibited carry without a permit within “the official boundaries of a city or town.” However, Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, the premier gun lobby in Montana, observed that Constitutional Carry was not in effect in less than 1% of the state. HB 102 effectively universalizes Constitutional Carry throughout the entire state.
Advocates of Constitutional Carry have been on a nice win streak lately. BLP reported on Utah’s passage of Constitutional Carry last week. With Montana’s passage of Constitutional Carry, there are now 18 Constitutional Carry states in the nation.
Jordan Stein of GOA listed off America’s other Constitutional Carry states:
Arkansas, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Undoubtedly, Constitutional Carry is the Right’s most successful legislative movement of the last 30 years. The Right should strike while the iron is hot and make every Red state in the country a Constitutional Carry state.
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