By Dean Weingarten
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- Governor Bullock (D) of Montana vetoed constitutional carry, HB 298.
It seems that he did so on Friday the 27th of March. He did not give a good reason for the veto; he simply applied the “we require a permit for everything else” excuse.
Perhaps we need to rethink this excessive requirement for permission from the state before we engage in our daily lives. Five states have constitutional carry, and there is no evidence that it causes any problems. Governor Bullock recommended that the gun muffler reform in HB 250 be improved to include all legal hunting. It is unknown if there will be time for the legislature to amend the bill, pass the bill again, and return it to the Governor.
Bullock also vetoed House Bill 298, sponsored by Rep. Bill Harris, R-Winnett, which he said would eliminate Montana’s concealed weapons permit process and is an “absurd concept that threatens the safety of our communities by not providing for the basic fundamentals of gun safety or mental health screening.”
Governor Bullock is, at a minimum, mistaken. HB 298 would not have eliminated Montana’s concealed weapons permit process. It would only have removed legal restrictions from carrying concealed without a permit. The permit system itself would not have been changed. It should be noted that if we agreed with the Governor’s assumptions about the nature of reality, then no one would be allowed to own a firearm without Government permission. It is hard to believe that Governor Bullock does not know that his “absurd concept” is the law in over 98 percent of Montana, and has been for some time.
It is unlikely that there will be any attempt to override the veto. HB 298 passed with strong margins, but far from veto proof ones. The bill passed the Senate 28 to 21. It passed the House 56 to 43.
Governor Bullock won a squeaker of an election in 2012 with 48.9 percent of the vote, while the Republican candidate received 47.3%. The Libertarian candidate got 1.75% of the vote, more than twice the difference between the two major candidates of 7,571 votes.
Governors are a target in gutting popular gun reforms because they are a focal point where media pressure and billionaire money can be brought to bear.  It may be that a similar phenomena occurs when local officials go to federal office. Suddenly, the focus of the old media is on them, and all the power of the progressive establishment it used to convert or defeat them.
If you must ask the government for a permission, it is no longer a right. Governor Bullock joins Governor Tomblin (D) of West Virginia, who also vetoed a constitutional carry bill this year.
One Democrat Governor, Governor Beebe of Arkansas, has signed a constitutional carry bill that restored carry rights to what they were when the Bill of Rights was ratified. But there is good evidence that he did so by accident. Some Republicans have vetoed constitutional carry bills, notably in South Dakota and Utah. But Republican Governors have signed constitutional carry bills in Alaska, Arizona, and Wyoming. The Kansas constitutional carry bill will be going to Governor Brownback soon.
c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch
About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Bullock is a spine less little weasel. We hate this guy but like was stated above it is a combo of the reservation welfare states and stupid laftists that came from other states and brought their Californian brain disease with them!!
Us TRUE montana people hate all of this I assure you!!! Isn’t it great living in a democracy where 51% of the population controls everything the other 49% does?
We hate this dirt bag but he is the turd that just won’t flush!
Though this is old news I will put my two cents in. He states we have a permit for everything why not conceal permits. My two cents. A permit is something the government makes you buy back when they steal a right from you.
Honestly most of us all have hunters safety and we have been learning how to shoot sense we were kids i would be more worried about the criminals who don’t care about laws who carry concealed or not if they are allowed to or not. does not stop them but puts our family’s in danger. i open carry and people treat me like im a criminal and walk around me and are assholes about it even call the cops on me and my pistol does not leave the holster unless needed. in witch no occasion has arisen to have to… Read more »
No big surprise there!…Keep on voting Corruptocrat Montana.
It’s all the republicrats that move here from their “too liberal” states and bring their middle of the road BS with them to contaminate our once freedom carrying Montana’s. I Carry open everywhere with no problems here.
What the hell is wrong with the people of montana???
Why the hell did you vote for a communist governor, you idiots???
You Montana folks will slowy turn that state into california and new york, if you keep voting these communist into office. F’n idiots!
Unfortunately, there are some many reservations in Montana that are catered to by the Democrats that the hard-working Republicans can’t win the vote. We try with every election, but the voters from the reservations outnumber the rest of us.
I wonder how many Bloomberg bucks Governor Bullock deposited to his offshore accounts for this veto? Keep voting Democrat Montana, and you’ll end up like Colorado and Washington!
Montana needs to vote in a Republican governor in the next election !
Apparently repression of Constitutionally enumerated freedoms is one of the foundations of the Democratic Party’s 2016 Platform. The actions of Democrat governors like Bullock are just a ‘test balloon’.