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HOUSE BILL NO.
INTRODUCED BY
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REVISING STATE GOVERNMENT
REGULATION OF THE POSSESSION OF FIREARMS ON THE JOB BY PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES; AND PROVIDING IMMUNITY TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Regulation
of possession and use of firearms by state government employees --
government immunity. (1) An officer, department, board, or other agency
or entity of state government may not regulate the possession of
firearms during the scope and course of employment by a state
government employee who has a concealed weapon permit, except to
reasonably regulate the possession and use of firearms by the following
employees as necessary to the performance of their duties:
(a) highway patrol officers;
(b) game wardens;
(c) state prison employees;
(d) probation and parole officers;
(e) uniformed employees of the department of transportation;
(f) staff and enrolled students of the Montana law enforcement academy;
(g) a person inside a corrections facility;
(h) a person inside a building owned or leased by the state;
(i) department of justice investigators; and
(j) members of the national guard.
(2) Except for gross negligence or intentional
misconduct of the state, the state is not liable in tort to a person or
entity for damages caused by the use of a firearm on property owned,
possessed, or controlled by the state by a state employee or agent who
is not required to carry a firearm as a part of regular duties in the
scope and course of employment or agent status with the state or by a
guest or invitee as a condition of being a guest or invitee of the
state.
NEW SECTION. Section 2.
Codification instruction. [Section 1] is intended to be codified as an
integral part of Title 45, chapter 8, part 3, and the provisions of
Title 45 apply to [section 1].
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Two-thirds
vote required. Because [section 1(2)] limits governmental liability,
Article II, section 18, of the Montana constitution requires a vote of
two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature for passage.
If the required vote of two-thirds of the members of each house is not
obtained, [section 1(2)] is void.
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