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"Modwest has done a great job for MSSA!"
--Gary Marbut, MSSA President
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December 10, 1993
Dear MSSA Member,
Greetings from MSSA! Hope you had a good hunting season. Hope you will have a good holiday season.
As most of you already know, we promise to spend precious MSSA funds on mailings to members ONLY when there is a critical need for communication with members. That's why you haven't heard from MSSA for a while, AND THAT'S WHY YOU'RE HEARING FROM MSSA NOW.
The first part of this newsletter is a CALL TO ACTION. After we have informed you about critical current issues, the later parts of this mailing will bring you up to date on MSSA issues since the last newsletter.
For general information, MSSA has no paid staff. All of the daily work done for MSSA and by MSSA for Montana gun owners is done by volunteers, generally by people on the Board of Directors. MSSA does reimburse some expenses of officers, such as MSSA-related phone expense.
CALL TO ACTION - SENATOR MAX BAUCUS. PLEASE READ THIS IN DETAIL, AND PLEASE HELP DO WHAT WE ASK YOU TO DO. DO WHAT YOU CAN. WE DON'T NEED TO TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT IT IS.
So much has transpired about Senator Baucus (Max) in the last three weeks that it is difficult to describe it fully in print. I'll try to be concise.
Max has always promised Montana voters and gun owners that he would oppose all gun control, oppose waiting periods for handgun purchase, and oppose bans on semi-auto firearms. HE HAS BROKEN ALL THESE PROMISES. Enclosed is a reprint of quotes from Max to Montana gun owners on these issues - you may photocopy and redistribute these quotes if you wish.
MAX HAS BETRAYED MONTANA GUN OWNERS. He voted for the Feinstein Amendment, to ban many semi-auto firearms, ban magazines that hold over 10 rounds, and require de facto registration of many semi-auto firearms. He has lied to Montanans about his intent in voting for Feinstein, and he has lied to Montanans about the effects of Feinstein. Max voted for the Brady Bill, to establish a 5-day waiting period for handgun purchase. His votes on both of these issues were critical votes. If he had voted right, and had worked hard against these measures, it is quite possible that neither one of them would have passed the Senate.
Max has accepted wholesale the basic philosophy of gun control: 1) he believes in the idea that controlling guns controls crime, and 2) he believes in the idea that the government is empowered to deny the possession of firearms to law-abiding citizens.
So, the big question is, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT MAX? There are several things we can do, with your help.
1. MSSA radio campaign, beginning January 1, 1994. MSSA has developed four, 30-second radio spots about Max- we have them on tape and ready to go. We think they are GREAT spots. We want to get them on every radio station in Montana in the first week of January. WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need you to raise money locally and reserve radio ad time on your local station(s) for the first week of January. Ask for several hundred dollars from your local sportsman club, get local sporting goods stores and other businesses to match that amount, and solicit more funds from individuals. Call MSSA, give us the name of your local radio station, and we'll send a copy of the 30-second spots immediately to the station. Try to run them as much as 10 to 12 times per day for a week, at least. MSSA is beginning a major, national fundraising campaign to help deal with Max. If the campaign is successful, we may have funds to help you keep the ads on the air after the first week. BUT YOU HAVE TO START THE RADIO CAMPAIGN IN YOUR AREA. Solicit funds, schedule time on local radio, and call us to send the tape of spots to your local station.
2. We are collecting a great file of letters from Max to gun owners, in which he promises to vote against gun control. WE NEED MORE LETTERS FROM MAX. If you have one or more letters from Max about guns, PLEASE send us the original or a photocopy. If you send the original, be sure and keep a photocopy for yourself.
3. Write letters to the editor of your local paper, AND SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER. Also, please send us clippings of your letter if it is printed, and other letters about Max that are printed in your local paper (we only get the Missoulian). Short letters are most likely to be published. Among the comments in your letter to the editor, try and include one theme: Since Max betrayed Montana gun owners on an issue critical in Montana, how can anyone else trust Max to honor his promises on other issues? Use your own words.
4. We are developing some handout, printed material about Max's betrayal of Montana gun owners. If you have some method of distributing this material to concerned gun owners (such as at gun shows), call us and tell us how many pieces you need and when you need them. Use this material to spread the word to your pro-gun friends.
5. MSSA has obtained permission to reprint a GREAT article that deals with the gun issue. It is the sort of article that may well sway people who may be on the fence about the guns. The title of this article is "A Nation of Cowards". This article would be super information for elected officials or people in the media. It's going to be expensive to reprint this article in a tasteful brochure, so we may not be able to supply them by the armful, but we will want to get them into the hands of people who have not yet made up their minds about guns versus gun control. Feel free to call us and ask for one or more of these as well. You will want to read this article yourself before you pass it on to an undecided person.
6. MSSA ALWAYS needs money and new members. We don't pitch you all the time for money like some organizations do. We run MSSA almost on a shoestring. But we are effective, and we make every buck count. Read later in this newsletter about our legislative accomplishments last session. Since we run such a lean operation, we could sure use a contribution if you'd care to make one. However, our choice of first priority for your money is to get the radio spots on local stations. After you get these ads going, if you have any extra funds available, we'd be pleased to receive a contribution for our "Baucus Sensitivity Training and Awareness Program". Just write "MAX" in the memo blank of your check, and we'll use it as effectively as possible to raise Max's awareness (there may be prizes for greatest understatement).
MSSA always needs new members. The more members we have, the stronger we are. Recruit your friends and shooting buddies. Call us if you need MSSA membership brochures - we have lots.
7. If you have energy, time and gumption left over, go picket or protest on the street at Max's office, but be sure you call the media before you go and let them know when you will be there. TV crews quit filming news events by mid-afternoon so they can get into the studio and produce afternoon and evening news. If you get a chance to talk to a TV camera or radio microphone, try and include the theme mentioned above in paragraph 3 about letters to the editor.
8. You may photocopy and redistribute this newsletter if you think it will help rally gunowners.
PLEASE HELP US HELP MONTANA GUN OWNERS DEAL WITH SENATOR BAUCUS. LITERALLY, THE NATION IS WATCHING WHAT WE DO HERE IN MONTANA, TO SEE IF A SENATOR WITH A PRO-GUN ELECTORATE CAN GET AWAY WITH VOTING FOR GUN CONTROL. IF MAX CAN GET AWAY WITH GUN CONTROL VOTES, MORE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WILL SWING AND CLINTON WILL DISARM US. THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR - ACT NOW, AND DECISIVELY, OR LOSE BIG-TIME.
OTHER MSSA NEWS
LEGISLATION
We had a reasonably good legislative session this year. We got some pro-gun and pro-hunting legislation through the Legislature, and we didn't let any anti-gun legislation pass, all with lots of help from many good legislators. Some legislators were not so good.
Senator Bill Yellowtail (D-Wyola) killed five of our bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he is chairman. Much of this was done by using his influence as chairman, behind the scenes, to prevent passage of our measures through his committee. Senator Yellowtail had been opposed by gun owners for his reelection, and he was very nearly unseated. He remembered - it was payback time.
RANGE SAFETY ZONE EASEMENTS. One MSSA measure was passed and signed into law that allows the use of easements to secure a safety zone around or adjacent to shooting ranges. Many times, range operators cannot afford to purchase enough land to secure an adequate safety zone around the range. Using an easement will offer a more cost-effective way to obtain an adequate safety zone. Range operators would simply approach the owner(s) of property adjacent to an existing or proposed range and negotiate an easement for a safety zone (willing buyer/willing seller). Price and area of easement are subject to negotiations. The easement would give the range operators the right to use of the property as a safety zone, or buffer. The landowner would, in effect, give up the right to develop the property. The owner might specify, by easement conditions, certain times when he could safely access the area, perhaps for harvest of crops. Thanks to bill sponsor Rep. Randy Vogel (R-Billings) for carrying this bill.
HUNTING LAW CHANGES. Four MSSA measures were consolidated into one hunting-related bill that was successfully carried by Senator Bernie Swift (R-Hamilton) - thanks to Bernie. The four provisions are as follows:
1. Dramatically increase the penalty for second conviction of the offense of hunter harassment. There are some places in the U.S. where the professional, animal rights protesters will no longer protest, because if they are caught there again, they do hard time. Montana is now one of those places.
2. Montana parents of non-resident minor children may now have their children come to hunt in Montana as resident hunters. Some parents in split families have kids living out of state. It's been difficult and expensive for Mom or Dad to get the kids non-resident licenses to hunt in Montana. Now these few kids can obtain resident hunting licenses.
3. Hunting laws were changed to clarify that once a game animal is lawfully taken and properly tagged, the animal becomes the personal property of the hunter. This issue had always been open to some interpretation. There has always been the presumption that all game animals belong to the State. There was no definition of if or when the game animal became the property of the hunter. Now it is defined.
4. The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission has had authority from the Legislature to restrict hunting in some special districts to use of muzzelloaders and shotguns only. This was done in riverbottom districts that had a significant human population, and FWP wanted hunting with firearms that have a short projectile reach. The law now allows FWP to include handgun hunting in these districts, for the same reasons.
PIN SHOOT
MSSA had another successful bowling pin shoot this year in Missoula. Thanks to the Western Montana Fish and Game Association for the use of the Deer Creek Shooting Range. Thanks to the members of the Big Sky Practical Shooting Club for helping to staff the event. A good time was had by all, and we grossed nearly $2,000 (net about $1,000) for MSSA political activities. We will do it again on the 4th Sunday in July in 1994.
HUNTER ETHICS CAMPAIGN
For the 5th year, MSSA conducted a multi-media campaign for hunter ethics. Multi-media means we attempted to get our message in daily and weekly newspapers, on radio stations and on TV stations. The theme was, "It's OK to criticize your hunting partner for lapses in hunter ethics." This information went out to the media just before general big game season.
EXCESS GAME MEAT TO THE NEEDY
Once again, MSSA conducted a multi-media campaign asking hunters to donate excess game meat to needy people or local Montana food banks. This seems to be becoming successful in that many food banks report that nowadays their chief source of protein food for their clients is game meat provided by hunters. Thus, hunters, by some standards, are doing a better job of feeding hungry people than some expensive social programs.
HUNTER HARASSMENT LAW
A district court judge in Bozeman dismissed charges against one of the professional protesters involved in the disruption of the bison hunt near Yellowstone Park a few years ago. The district court judge held that Montana's hunter harassment law was unconstitutionally overbroad because it unnecessarily infringed on the defendant's constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression. This district court decision was appealed to the Montana Supreme Court by the State of Montana, and MSSA has entered an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in support of the State's defense of the hunter harassment law.
It is always impossible to predict how the courts may rule on any particular issue, but we believe there is an excellent chance that the Montana Supreme Court will rule in our favor, and overturn the district court's decision to dismiss this prosecution and void the hunter harassment law. Many thanks to the law firm of Milodragovich, Dale and Dye, and attorney Lon Dale, and to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, for helping to make our amicus appearance possible. The Western Montana Fish and Game Association joined with MSSA in the amicus appearance, and split whatever costs were not absorbed by MUCC and Lon Dale's law firm.
FISH, WILDLIFE AND PARKS COMMISSION - HANDGUN HUNTING REGULATIONS
The Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission is planning to adopt regulations to implement our legislation allowing handgun hunting in areas previously restricted to only shotguns and muzzelloaders. It appears that they will accept our definition of suitable handguns for this sort of hunting. We have provided extensive testimony and documentation to support our proposed definition. Our proposed definition for suitable handguns for hunting in these semi-populated, riverbottom areas includes: 1) a firearm not capable of being shoulder-mounted, 2) with a barrel of less than 10 1/2 inches, and 3) chambering a straight-walled cartridge not originally designed for rifles. Considering the management objectives for these areas, we wanted to limit this sort of hunting to NOT include those "handguns" that are little more than cut down rifles. Our definition is silent (deliberately) on action type, sights, and other variables. It remains to be seen if FWP will adopt our proposed definition, but it looks like they will.
GUN FREE SCHOOL ZONES ACT OVERTURNED BY THE COURTS
In 1990, Congress was considering the annual "Crime Bill", and in the last minutes of the last hour of the bill's passage, a provision was inserted called the "Gun Free School Zones Act" (GFSZA). This "Act" was inserted into the Crime Bill by a conference committee assigned to work out differences between House and Senate versions of the Crime Bill (yes, a sneaky and dirty deal). There were NO House or Senate committee hearings or floor debate on the bill. The Crime Bill passed and was signed by President Bush. The effect of the GFSZA was that, if you travel within 1,000 feet of a school grounds, and you have a firearm in your vehicle that is not both unloaded and locked up, you have committed a federal crime. By this standard, most Montanans became unknowing federal criminals, because Montana schools are on the main streets of Montana towns, and because many Montanans carry guns in their vehicles that are not unloaded and locked away. MSSA had a bill before the last legislative session that would have, had it passed, exempted Montanans from the effect of the GFSZA. The bill did not pass. The Fifth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled, in a case known as U.S. v. Lopez, that the GFSZA is unconstitutional, not on Second Amendment grounds, but because the Court believes the federal government does not have authority under the "commerce clause" of the U.S. Constitution to prevent or criminalize the mere possession of a firearm. The Court saw the GFSZA as a conflict between the power of the federal government under the commerce clause and the Tenth Amendment, which reserves to the states and the people powers not specifically granted to the federal government under the U.S. Constitution.
Essentially, states rights won, because the Court held that regulating the mere possession of a firearm was an area of activity that is restricted to the states under the Tenth Amendment. This decision may (MAY) have implications for judicial review of the Brady Bill and "assault gun" bans by Congress. Second Amendment issues were not raised in Lopez, but the Court did state: "It is also conceivable that some applications of section 922(q) (GFSZA, ed) might raise Second Amendment concerns. Lopez does not raise the Second Amendment and thus we do not now consider it. Nevertheless, this orphan of the Bill of Rights may be something of a brooding omnipresence here. For an argument that the Second Amendment should be taken seriously, see Levinson, The Embarrassing Second Amendment, 99 Yale L.J. 637 (1989)"
NRA "GUN TALK" COMPUTER BULLETIN BOARD
For MSSA computer users, the NRA has an electronic bulletin board that has a wealth of information any NRA member can download with a computer. This includes the text of many gun bills before Congress, and a LOT more information. The NRA charges a 15/year access fee for Gun Talk. To sign on, connect with your modem to 703-719-6406, N-8-1. Be prepared to give your name, your NRA ID number (on your magazine label), and a credit card number to pay the $15 access fee. First time on, download a file named FILEDIR.ZIP. This is a compressed (zipped) file that contains the file names and short descriptions of all the other files on the system that are available to download. You can get off, unzip and review this list, and get back on to download whatever other files you may want.
NEW! NEW! - MSSA COMPUTER BULLETIN BOARD
If the NRA can do it, so can we. MSSA now has an electronic bulletin board (BBS). We have an area of the Computer Center bulletin board set aside for MSSA use. Call the MSSA BBS in Montana at 273-4692, any baud rate, N-8-1. Use XMODEM CHECKSUM transfer protocol. By the time you get this newsletter, you will be able to download much valuable MSSA information. All files are compressed with PKZIP 2.04 for faster transfer. A copy of PKUNZIP 2.04 is on the bulletin board if you need to download it to unzip files. There is a file you can download, called FILEDIR.ZIP, that contains the filenames of all available files and a short description of each file. Before long, perhaps by the time you get this newsletter, we will have upload, Email, and conference ability. Browse the MSSA BBS to find out what options are available. No access fee will be charged for the foreseeable future.
COMING SOON - MSSA FAX BULLETIN BOARD
MSSA will soon have a Fax bulletin board. On this bulletin board, anyone with a fax machine will be able to call in and retrieve faxes of MSSA information. Your first fax will give you a list of the documents available. With this list in hand, you will be able to call in and select any of a list of fax documents. Upon selection, the chosen documents will be sent to your fax machine.
END OF MSSA NEWS TOPICS
Thanks loads for your patience with this long newsletter. Thanks also for understanding that MSSA does not communicate more regularly with its members as a cost-saving measure. We try hard to parcel out precious MSSA funds only for essential activity, to preserve the most possible funds for political action for Montana gun owners.
HOW TO REACH MSSA
If you need to contact us, for any reason, but especially to order tapes of the Baucus radio spots, get to us in any of the following ways:
Mail: P.O. Box 4924
Missoula, MT 59806
VoiceMail (messages) from in Montana: 800-542-8809, Ext 50
from out of Montana: 800-662-2300, Ext 50
or: 406-251-3800, Ext 50
Fax: 406-251-3824
MSSA President, Gary S. Marbut: 406-549-1252
Please help us deal with Max. Sincerely,
Gary S. Marbut
MSSA President
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