VAopencarry
Regular Member
imported post
From the MSSA:
Dear MSSA Friends,
It's action time with HB 228, MSSA's flagship Self Defense bill. Let me first give you a report on where we are with the bill. Further down in this email I'll tell you about the CRITICAL HELP we need from you.
Report. The House Judiciary Committee took Executive Action ("exec") on HB 228 today. Three entire sections were stripped out of the bill, all for tactically valid reasons (trust me on this - I don't like losing them either). The sections gone are Section 5 (recovery of legal costs in self defense), Section 6 (when and for how long police can seize guns) and Section 9 (employers and employees). Even with these three sections gone, there is still a LOT of meat in the bill and it is VERY worth supporting - worth fighting for.
There was a hostile amendment offered (by Democrat lawyers on the Committee) to strip Section 1(5) (burden of proof in self defense) from the bill. That attempt failed thanks to Rep. Deb Kottel (D-Great Falls). We've also been drawing a lot of political lightening over Section 3, defensive display of a firearm. Section 3, among other benefits, would affirm that open carry is legal in Montana, an issue about which Montana law is currently silent. In an effort to reduce some of the problems police administrators have with HB 228, Deb Kottel (still our hero) offered an amendment that was approved by the Committee.
There's just one problem, Deb's amendment, though well-intended, caused some serious problems with Section 3 and how it would be implemented. We are working now to get this problem fixed when HB 228 comes up for Second Reading on the House floor, probably on Tuesday. BTW, all Democrats except Deb Kottel on the Judiciary Committee voted AGAINST HB 228. All the Republicans and Deb voted FOR the bill.
To get HB 228 passed by the House and to get Section 3 fixed, we need to build political heat and momentum for HB 228. That's where you come in.
Action item 1: One Democrat on the Committee who voted against HB 228 is Rep. Bob Ebinger (D- Livingston). Bob is elected from a pretty "gunny" district. I doubt that his constituents would be pleased to learn that he's voting anti-gun. And, I suspect Bob may be somewhat responsive to public pressure.
So, we need to deliver a LOT of messages to Bob challenging his opposition to HB 228. You can email Rep. Ebinger at: buffalojump@imt.net
Please send Rep. Ebinger an email. DO NOT threaten him! DO NOT use bad language! No name calling. Scold him, cajole him, rebuke him or persuade him as you like. Also, if you know ANYBODY in Park County, please get them to contact Ebinger too, and to spread this word in Park County. Anyone without email can call the legislative message center at 444-4800 and leave a message for Ebinger. The messages should be short, such as "Why the heck are you voting against a self defense bill supported by every national gun rights organization, and by every statewide gun group in Montana? Who do you work for anyway?" Besides alerting all your friends, you can both send Ebinger an email message AND send him a message through the legislative message center (not working on Sunday). Let's make Ebinger feel the heat. He's our poster boy for the moment.
Action item 2: It's now time for you to begin contacting your House members, your Representatives (not Senators yet). Be nice!
If you don't know who your Representative is, you can find out from:
[url]http://nris.mt.gov/gis/legislat/2009/
[/url]If you live near a district boundary and can't figure out which of two districts you live in, send to any who are close. Heck, you can send to every member of the House if you like.
Emails addresses for all legislators who have email addresses are available from:
[url]http://www.leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/61st/roster.asp?HouseID=0&SessionID=94
[/url]The message to all legislators should be some variation of "Please support HB 228. Oppose any amendments not made by Rep. Kerns (the sponsor) or Rep. Kottel." Plus, you might wish to explain that although some think the HB 228 is opposed by all cops, it's actually only opposed by police administrators, not rank and file street cops. And you might remind legislators that police, even administrators, are our employees, not our bosses. You might even care to invite them to review my expose' on Public Safety V. Private Safety at:
[url]http://www.progunleaders.org/safety
[/url]You may invite legislators to review my explanation of HB 228 at:
[url]http://progunleaders.org/Self-defense/
[/url]Feel free to be very firm. "We want this bill to pass!" is not too strong.
We REALLY need a big push, right now. We need a strong showing from the House, because we will have an additional fight when HB 228 gets to the Senate. The better the vote in the House, the less the fight in the Senate.
HB 228 will probably be on the House floor for Second Reading on Tuesday. This is probably the most critical vote for the bill. NOW is the time to put the pressure on.
Thanks loads for your help! Every single message sent to Helena helps!!
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com
From the MSSA:
Dear MSSA Friends,
It's action time with HB 228, MSSA's flagship Self Defense bill. Let me first give you a report on where we are with the bill. Further down in this email I'll tell you about the CRITICAL HELP we need from you.
Report. The House Judiciary Committee took Executive Action ("exec") on HB 228 today. Three entire sections were stripped out of the bill, all for tactically valid reasons (trust me on this - I don't like losing them either). The sections gone are Section 5 (recovery of legal costs in self defense), Section 6 (when and for how long police can seize guns) and Section 9 (employers and employees). Even with these three sections gone, there is still a LOT of meat in the bill and it is VERY worth supporting - worth fighting for.
There was a hostile amendment offered (by Democrat lawyers on the Committee) to strip Section 1(5) (burden of proof in self defense) from the bill. That attempt failed thanks to Rep. Deb Kottel (D-Great Falls). We've also been drawing a lot of political lightening over Section 3, defensive display of a firearm. Section 3, among other benefits, would affirm that open carry is legal in Montana, an issue about which Montana law is currently silent. In an effort to reduce some of the problems police administrators have with HB 228, Deb Kottel (still our hero) offered an amendment that was approved by the Committee.
There's just one problem, Deb's amendment, though well-intended, caused some serious problems with Section 3 and how it would be implemented. We are working now to get this problem fixed when HB 228 comes up for Second Reading on the House floor, probably on Tuesday. BTW, all Democrats except Deb Kottel on the Judiciary Committee voted AGAINST HB 228. All the Republicans and Deb voted FOR the bill.
To get HB 228 passed by the House and to get Section 3 fixed, we need to build political heat and momentum for HB 228. That's where you come in.
Action item 1: One Democrat on the Committee who voted against HB 228 is Rep. Bob Ebinger (D- Livingston). Bob is elected from a pretty "gunny" district. I doubt that his constituents would be pleased to learn that he's voting anti-gun. And, I suspect Bob may be somewhat responsive to public pressure.
So, we need to deliver a LOT of messages to Bob challenging his opposition to HB 228. You can email Rep. Ebinger at: buffalojump@imt.net
Please send Rep. Ebinger an email. DO NOT threaten him! DO NOT use bad language! No name calling. Scold him, cajole him, rebuke him or persuade him as you like. Also, if you know ANYBODY in Park County, please get them to contact Ebinger too, and to spread this word in Park County. Anyone without email can call the legislative message center at 444-4800 and leave a message for Ebinger. The messages should be short, such as "Why the heck are you voting against a self defense bill supported by every national gun rights organization, and by every statewide gun group in Montana? Who do you work for anyway?" Besides alerting all your friends, you can both send Ebinger an email message AND send him a message through the legislative message center (not working on Sunday). Let's make Ebinger feel the heat. He's our poster boy for the moment.
Action item 2: It's now time for you to begin contacting your House members, your Representatives (not Senators yet). Be nice!
If you don't know who your Representative is, you can find out from:
[url]http://nris.mt.gov/gis/legislat/2009/
[/url]If you live near a district boundary and can't figure out which of two districts you live in, send to any who are close. Heck, you can send to every member of the House if you like.
Emails addresses for all legislators who have email addresses are available from:
[url]http://www.leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/61st/roster.asp?HouseID=0&SessionID=94
[/url]The message to all legislators should be some variation of "Please support HB 228. Oppose any amendments not made by Rep. Kerns (the sponsor) or Rep. Kottel." Plus, you might wish to explain that although some think the HB 228 is opposed by all cops, it's actually only opposed by police administrators, not rank and file street cops. And you might remind legislators that police, even administrators, are our employees, not our bosses. You might even care to invite them to review my expose' on Public Safety V. Private Safety at:
[url]http://www.progunleaders.org/safety
[/url]You may invite legislators to review my explanation of HB 228 at:
[url]http://progunleaders.org/Self-defense/
[/url]Feel free to be very firm. "We want this bill to pass!" is not too strong.
We REALLY need a big push, right now. We need a strong showing from the House, because we will have an additional fight when HB 228 gets to the Senate. The better the vote in the House, the less the fight in the Senate.
HB 228 will probably be on the House floor for Second Reading on Tuesday. This is probably the most critical vote for the bill. NOW is the time to put the pressure on.
Thanks loads for your help! Every single message sent to Helena helps!!
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com