The 2025 Montana Legislative Session has Commenced!
YOU stalwart sentinels of liberty are once again called upon to man your posts and be ever watchful for the inevitable backlash that is sure to come in the wake of the nation’s rejection of the latest incarnation of socialism last November.
Your task is to ensure that you and your fellow patriots are engaged in the political fight at the State and Local levels.
In order to assist you in that crucial effort GOA has a State Legislation tracker that will provide you with information on what bills are pending within your State legislature. Each legislation will clearly indicate GOA’s stance, as well as contain a brief First Principles summary of each bill that will tell you the only vital details. These summaries can then be used as the body for your email to your State legislators.
The fast-paced nature of these legislative sessions necessitates that you will have to take the initiative and contact your elected representatives about the legislation that GOA is tracking in order to voice your support or opposition.
In order to assist you in the task of communicating with legislators, GOA has a Legislator Lookup function on the website. This search function will enable you to identify who your State level elected officials are. After inputting your home address, the system will generate a list of your elected officials. At this point you can select a legislator that you wish to communicate with and send them an email.
It is important to understand that there may not always be time for GOA staff to send out independent emails concerning each piece of legislation, so one must monitor the forthcoming GOA Western States social media as well as the legislation tracker for the most current information.
Despite the fact that the nation has voted to reject the socialist policies of the Uni-party, many state legislatures have chosen to double down on those despotic policies that have ensured that liberty and economic prosperity has been significantly reduced within These United States. Those of you residing in supposed “Red States” must be even more vigilant because since GOA began tracking state level legislation within the Western States, the number of infringements upon your cherished liberties has increased exponentially.
While some of these unprincipled edicts are flagrant violations, most are concealed behind the veil of law and order. Within the Western States, most of the opposition to liberty has come from supposed Republicans, who tell their constituents that they fight for their rights but in practice their votes put them closer to their socialist counterparts within the Democrat Party.
Hence the necessity for you to adhere to the notion that actions speak louder than words. Do not prima fascia trust anything your local politicians say, verify their assertions at every turn by first checking their Freedom Index score and reading the legislation that they are voting in favor of. If you are fortunate enough to have a legislator who is attempting to apply our Nation’s First Principles, afford them your support but apply the maximum trust but verify.
For too long in this nation we have failed to perform our due diligence, which has enabled unscrupulous politicians, pantywaist judges, and the legions of un-elected bureaucrats to run amuck. Accordingly, it is past time that you stop worrying about what is occurring in Washington D.C. and turn your attention to the petty tyrants lurking in your backyard.
Given the fractured state of our crumbling polity, getting just one of these legislative initiatives out of committee or blocked will be a monumental undertaking. Hence, it will be your task to inform these so-called “lawmakers,” who do not seem to understand that we have life as a gift from our Creator, that our rights are not only self-evidently true, but also, they are endowments to all humanity, equally.
Here some of the most pressing legislation at play in your Local Swamp!
Please use the link below to the Montana Legislative Services website to contact the committee members to let your voice be heard!
LC 2524: Preserve right to keep and bear arms via a presumption of innocence.
Current Status: Sent to the Senate Committee on Executive Review, no date and time yet.
L.C. 2524, sponsored by Rep. Nikolakakos (R, D22) proposes limits the courts ability to the impose prohibitions on the of the right to keep and bear arms for individuals charged with certain non-violent crimes.
The legislation, in its current form, requires some amendments for GOA to fully support the measure. If those amendments are made and the bill language is not negatively altered, L.C. 2524 will serve to reaffirm our due process right, which stipulate that, prior to a criminal conviction, citizens cannot be stripped of their God-given rights to preserve life with arms because that liberty is enumerated within the Montana Constitution and the Second Amendment to the Federal Compact.
L.C. 894: Creating sheriffs’ first initiative for cooperation and communication.
Current Status: Sent to the Senate Committee on Executive Review, no date and time yet.
LC 894, sponsored by Rep. Deming (R, D55), enhances the constitutional sheriff’s role as the chief law enforcement official within a county and is essential to the effort towards reasserting State sovereignty in the face of unprecedented Federal overreach.
Given that a county sheriff is authorized and funded by the State legislature, these local elected officials have exclusive authority to define the limits of the powers of the office of sheriff. While sheriffs are invested with the authority to enforce all constitutional laws and arrest those who break those laws, the primary role of the sheriff, as with all government, is to secure the “blessings of liberty” for the citizens residing within their county.
The troubling trend towards the federalization of law enforcement, contains obvious connotations regarding Federal overreach within the State domain of local law enforcement. Given this blatant violation of State sovereignty, it is high time for each State to assert their prerogative to nullify this vulgar abuse of federal power and to re-establish the local primacy of the sheriff’s office.
S.B. 176: Providing for non-discrimination related to firearms possession or activity.
Current Status: Sent to the Senate Committee on Executive Review, no date and time yet.
SB 176, sponsored Sen. Bogner (R, D19), creates a statutory scheme to ensure non-discrimination as related to firearms possession or associated activity.
Ultimately SB 176 is about protecting citizens who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights from financial discrimination, as well as safeguarding the ability of the citizens of MT to purchase tools and accoutrements that enable them to exercise their God-given right to preserve life with arms.
H.B. 96: Create a trapper apprentice program.
Current Status: Passed House on 3rd Reading, currently heading to the Senate.
House Bill 96, sponsored by Rep. Fielder (R, D14), creates a trapping apprenticeship program that will enable youths to be mentored by seasoned and self-governing hunters.
GOA recognizes that in order to facilitate the next generation of trappers and hunters, incremental steps must be taken in order to restore the popular sentiment towards the proper exercising of that fundamental right. Moreover, the proper ends of just government are to safeguard the blessing of liberty for future generations. It is, therefore, prudent for legislature to promote trapping and hunting in this limited manner so that future generations of Montanans might also enjoy the natural bounty of God’s creation.
HB 329: Make the Montana ammunition act permanent.
Current Status: House Committee on Taxation, Room 152, on Feb 07, 2025, at 9:00 am.
House Bill 329, sponsored by Rep. Byrne (R, D11), provided tax breaks, liability protection, and access to existing economic development programs for any new business started to produce these critical commodities. Because of negotiations in the Senate, a 10-year “sunset” was applied to this bill. That sunset became effective on December 31, 2024, H.B. 329 would remove the sunset provision.
S.J. 7: Joint resolution to support shooting competition as a collegiate sport
Current Status: Passed Senate on 3rd Reading, House Education Committee, Room 152, on Feb 05, 2025, at 3:00 pm.
SJ 7 (LC 653), sponsored by Sen. Fuller (R, D4), seeks to express the support of the legislature for the Montana Board of Regents to adopt collegiate shooting sport programs that reflect Montana’s robust shooting sports traditions and hunting heritage.
Keep to date with all the legislation in your State by monitoring GOA’s Legislation Tracker
We must not fail to remember that the Second Amendment protects the liberties of all Americans. If your elected officials have forgotten that timeless truth, then let this legislative session be one where you force them to remember that they are public servants and there are political consequences for those failing to adhere to their oath to uphold and defend the blessing of liberty for future generations.
