Montana Shooting Sports Association
News Release concerning the "Montana Resolution"
NEWS RELEASE
(for immediate release - February 19, 2008)
Montana Officials Concerned Over Statehood Contract Violation
Supreme Court could violate statehood contract in Heller decision
MISSOULA - Numerous elected Montana officials have concurred in a Resolution
asserting that a case before the U.S. Supreme Court could violate
Montana's contract for statehood. These officials include
Montana's lone Congressman Denny Rehberg and Montana Secretary of State
Brad Johnson. The court is reviewing D.C. v. Heller, the
first occasion in over 60 years that the Court will consider whether
the Second Amendment secures an individual right or merely grants
states the power to arm their National Guards, called the "collective
rights" view.
The Montana Resolution (at progunleaders.org)
cautions that a collective rights decision would violate the Montana
contract for statehood because when that contract was entered the
collective rights interpretation had not yet been invented and the
individual rights view was an accepted part of the contract. A
letter to the editor from Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson was
printed today (2/19) in the Washington Times mak
ing this argument and citing the Montana Resolution. (Letter)
Montana Shooting Sports Association president Gary
Marbut commented, "A collective rights decision in Heller would not
only violate Montana's contract for statehood, but also Montana's
customs, culture and heritage. We hope the Supreme Court will
recognize and credit the contract argument, an argument unmentioned in
any of the briefs submitted in the Heller case."
The Montana contract for statehood is archived at
Article I of the Montana Constitution as the Compact with the United
States. At the time the Compact was agreed upon between Montana
and the U.S., Congress approved the Montana Constitution which included
the right of "any person" to bear arms, clearly an individual
right. The Montana right of "any person" to bear arms and the
effect of the Second Amendment were considered to be consistent with
each other, both securing individual rights.
Contracts must be implemented so as to effect the intent
of the parties to the contract. A collective rights decision by
the Court could also call into question the sanctity of contracts,
considered to have been a bedrock principle of law for centuries.
Although many amicus briefs have been submitted in the Heller case, none have articulated the statehood contract issue.
Montana accepted and was admitted into statehood in
1889. Several convergent events were necessary for Montana
statehood. The Enabling Act of Congress required that Montana
adopt an acceptable constitution. In response to this
requirement, Montana adopted the statehood constitution of 1889.
This constitution reserved the right of "any person" to bear arms,
which was unchanged in the 1972 revision of the Montana
Constitution. Montana was required to pass Ordinance 1, a part of
which entailed Montana's acceptance and adoption of the U.S.
Constitution, including the Second Amendment as it is still worded
today.
Congress gave authority to President Benjamin Harrison
to determine that Montana had met the congressionally-mandated
eligibility requirements for statehood. President Harrison declared in
writing that Montana had met the requirements established by Congress,
including an acceptable constitution. In his presidential
declaration, President Harrison said that, "... the
conditions imposed by Congress on the State of Montana to entitle that
State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted ..." By that presidential declaration, the contract was consummated, and remains in effect today.
That the Second Amendment was understood in 1889 to
secure an individual right to bear arms is confirmed by the acceptance
of the Montana Constitution's right for "any person" to bear arms, and
the accepted compatibility between that Montana right and the Second
Amendment. That Montana has a contract with the United States is
documented in Article I of the Montana Constitution. That a
contract must be interpreted and implemented consistent with the
understanding and intent of the parties at the time the contract was
entered into is a bedrock principle of contract law.
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Information: progunleaders.org
Gary Marbut, 406-549-1252
Montana Shooting Sports Association