The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed (usually)
Krayton Kerns
3.7.07
It is said that politics makes strange bedfellows. After my extensive experience of 45 days in the legislature, I think it is more correct to say that politics makes the exact bedfellows you would expect. Here is my case in point:
After a Herculean effort in the House to amend HB340 we at last passed the bill to the Senate. Jack Wells of Bozeman sponsored An act preserving and clarifying laws relating to the right of self defense and the right to bear arms. This bill was a simple declaration and reiteration of rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution and by Article II Section 12 of the Montana State Constitution.
There are two statements in HB340 that explains exactly what it does:Section 1, Part 1---The right of people to defend themselves from harm or loss of life is fundamental.
Section 2, Part 1---A person threatened with bodily injury or loss of life has no duty to summon law enforcement assistance prior to acting in self-defense or to retreat from a threat.
All 100 members of the Montana House of Representatives stood in the House Chamber on January 3rd, raised their right hand, and swore to uphold and defend both the US and the Montana Constitution. So what happened on February 23rd when HB340 was defeated on Second Reading? Did we temporarily forget the oath of office to placate the desires of the gun control crowd on the political left?
HB 340 was voted strongly out of the House Judiciary Committee twice. Four times it struggled on the House Floor during Second Reading or a reconsideration of Second Reading. Finally, on 2-27-07 it passed out of the House on Third Reading 57-42, so it is headed to the Senate. Of the 57 aye votes, advancing the cause of freedom, only 7 democrats joined with the 50 republicans. Of those 7 pro-gun democrats not a single one came from Yellowstone County. Not one. Does that matter to anyone but me?
