(CLICK HERE for this CQ as an MSWord file.)
MONTANA
SHOOTING SPORTS ASSOCIATION
2027 LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
2026 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
(MUST be returned (received here) no later than 5PM, March 22, 2026 for any candidate with a Primary challenge.)
Please check the response that best describes your position on each issue.
1. Sheriffs in the Constitution. In some states the office of sheriff has been effectively abolished, usually by moving essential powers from sheriffs into the hands of a bureaucratically-controlled state police force. Shifting power from a locally elected official into the hands of unelected, state-level bureaucrats diminishes liberty, damages accountability, and shifts even more power from people to government. To prevent this drift in Montana, MSSA proposes a constitutional referendum to strengthen the language about the office of sheriff in the Montana Constitution. This new language would: 1) Establish the office of sheriff as a constitutionally-specified office; 2) make the office mandatory for each county; 3) require that the sheriff always be elected (not appointed except to fill a mid-term vacancy); 4) specify that any elector is qualified to seek the office of sheriff; 5) clarify that the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the sheriff's county, and 6) reserve essential law enforcement powers to the sheriff at the county level.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
2. Rights upon release from custody. Prosecutors routinely demand, and some judges allow, that an accused-but-innocent (until convicted) person be stripped of reserved constitutional rights as a condition of release from custody, EVEN IF abuse of the restricted right had nothing to do with the alleged offense for which the person was in custody. Should an accused trespasser be prohibited from trial by jury, should an accused poacher be prohibited from political speech, and should an embezzler be prohibited from possessing firearms? MSSA proposes a law that would clarify that an accused but not convicted person may not be stripped of a constitutional right as a condition of release from custody unless abuse of that right was an element of the offense for which the person was in custody.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
3. Regulating enforcement of firearm confiscation orders from other states being applied in Montana. There are orders from courts in other states directing confiscation of firearms from people residing in Montana. These out-of-state orders are being enforced in Montana, against Montana people, by Montana cops. This is unacceptable. If other states wish to adopt laws making it easy to disarm their citizens, that stupidity is their business, but we don't have to allow such foreign thought and law to invade Montana without regulation. This bill would clarify that such foreign court orders could only be enforced in Montana by Montana cops under very narrow and defined conditions.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
4. Conflict with federal law - suppressors. The inclusion of firearm sound suppressors has long been justified in the federal National Firearms Act as an exercise of Congress's power to tax. However, the recent One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress reduced the federal tax on suppressors to zero. Several lawsuits have been filed in federal courts challenging federal registration requirements on Second Amendment grounds, now that this can no longer be justified as a taxing exercise. One or more of these lawsuits are likely to prevail. When one does, it will no longer be possible to register suppressors with federal authorities. Meanwhile, there is an archaic, leftover Montana law making it illegal to possess a suppressor unless it is federally registered - a Catch 22. This bill would remove the Montana requirement that suppressors must be federally registered to be legally possessed.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
5. Preliminary examination for self defense. There are incidents in which people involved in legitimate self defense are prosecuted for crimes. This may be because the prosecutor doesn't like firearms, is vindictive, because the prosecutor cannot decide and simply defaults to prosecution, or other. Such unnecessary prosecutions can ruin the accused, financially, emotionally, and socially. Some states are moving to preliminary examinations by courts to screen intended prosecutions for merit in alleged self defense cases. This bill would allow preliminary examinations by the court in self defense cases. This should also improve judicial economy when it weeds out unnecessary prosecutions.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
6. Power of the Board of Regents. The Board of Regents has sued to block the campus carry feature of HB 102 from the 2021 session. The Regents assert that the power given to them in Article X of the Montana Constitution to manage the affairs of the university system allows them to ignore the right to keep or bear arms that the people have reserved to themselves in Article II of the Constitution. We propose a constitutional referendum to clarify that the Regents are subject to other parts of the Constitution and not only Article X, are subject to laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, and also to give the Governor the power to veto any act by the Board of Regents.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
7. Sheriffs First - Law Enforcement Cooperation. Many Montanans, both citizens and people in public office, are concerned about the lack of accountability of federal officers conducting law enforcement operations in Montana. In Montana, we know our county sheriff. He is elected and accountable locally. We believe the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county, and ought to have the tools to implement that status. MSSA will offer a bill to require federal officers to obtain the written permission of the local sheriff before conducting an arrest, search, or seizure in the sheriff’s county. There are exceptions for federal reservations, Border Patrol, Immigration and Naturalization Service, close pursuit, when a federal officer witnesses a crime that requires an immediate response, if the sheriff or his personnel are under investigation, and other necessary exceptions. This bill was passed by the Legislature in 1995, but was vetoed by the Governor.
See: http://www.SheriffsFirst.net
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
8. Constitutional RKBA cleanup. The Montana Constitution's reservation of the right to keep or bear arms contains this archaic language from the territorial constitution of 1884, "... but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons." This was a cultural issue in 1884 and was likely copied from the Missouri Constitution of that time. For Missouri, this was probably a Reconstruction-era, Jim Crow provision intended to help keep freed slaves disarmed, defenseless, and subservient. We propose a constitutional referendum to remove this archaic provision from the Montana Constitution.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
9. Shooting range funding. Montana began using some hunter license money to make matching grants to develop shooting ranges in 1989. The program to build safe and suitable places for Montanans to shoot was put into state law in 1999, as the Shooting Range Development Program (SRDP). The funds for this program are approved each legislative session in the appropriations process for the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks budget. There are no general tax revenues used for this program, only the money hunters pay for licenses. The 2025 Legislature appropriated $800,000 for the SRDP. We ask that $1,000,000 be appropriated to the SRDP in the 2027 legislative session.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
10. Reinvigorate the Montana Home Guard. One thing we learned from floods, fires, and other major events is that the Governor and county sheriff could certainly use a trained and equipped resource pool of personnel and equipment to draw on, a pool that is not as expensive as the National Guard is and that is not subject to federal control as the National Guard is. The Montana Home Guard is an honored state institution that exists in law only, but because of the skeletal laws it does not exist in practice. We recommend legislation that would better define the nature, mission(s), and organization of the Montana Home Guard, the units of which would be under the control of and available to the Governor and county sheriffs. Such units could be medical, forestry, transportation, communication, or others.
See: http://leg.mt.gov/bills/2015/billpdf/SB0130.pdf
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
11. The cost of self defense. A person who legitimately defends himself or herself may still be destroyed financially by an overzealous or careless criminal prosecution. We propose that if a person is prosecuted for a crime, claims self-defense successfully and is not convicted, then the cost of the person's defense must be awarded to the accused by the court. This would be a claim against the prosecutor's budget.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
12. Oath of office enforcement. All elected officers and public officials are required by the Montana Constitution and Montana law to swear and file an oath to "support, protect and defend the constitution." Unfortunately, there is no useful mechanism in Montana law to hold officials accountable to their oath, once so sworn. Some take their oath seriously. Others treat it like a theater ticket stub; to be discarded immediately into the trash or immediately dropped on the floor to be trod upon once access to the theater or office has been obtained. MSSA proposes a bill to define violation of oath of office, to spell out one or more processes to hold office-holders accountable to their oath, and to provide consequences for violation of oath of office.
I would: Sponsor( ) Cosponsor( ) Support( ) Be Neutral( ) Oppose( )
The foregoing responses are actually my positions on these issues, to the best of my knowledge and at this time.
Candidate Signature (electronic signature accepted)
Date:
Candidate printed name Office sought
NOTE: This Candidate Questionnaire released electronically on March 5, 2026. Any candidates with Primary Election challenges MUST have their CQ returned electronically, and no later than 5PM, Monday, March 22, 2026, for MSSA's candidate evaluations for the June Primary elections. Thank you.
Thank you for being willing to serve your community and state in public office, and thank you very much for providing interested Montana gun owners with information about your views on issues important to them.
Please return questionnaire to mssa@mtssa.org (best) or MSSA, P.O. Box 4924, Missoula 59806.
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