HB 551

     HB 551 proposed to amend Article II, Section 12, of the Montana Constitution by deleting the underlined words: “The right of any person to keep or AND bear arms in defense of his own home, person, and property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons.” I voted against this constitutional amendment because permitless concealed carry is already allowed in the law thanks to HB 102, which was signed into law in 2021. HB 551 is unnecessary because it would not add any further gun rights.

     In the cases of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right “to keep and bear arms” for self-defense unconnected with service in a militia and that state and local governments are restricted from infringing on this constitutional right. In another case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), the Supreme Court clarified the scope of this right by ruling that an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home is protected by the Second Amendment. In these cases, the court ruled that this right is not unlimited and that certain restrictions on guns and gun ownership were permissible.

     The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court above, and Article II, Section 12, of the Montana constitution establish the individual right to keep or bear arms for self-defense in or outside the home. Furthermore, MCA 45-3-111 provides the right to open carry without a permit and a combination of MCA 45-8-316, MCA 45-8-328, and MCA 45-8-356 provide the right to concealed carry without a permit except in a few places where a permit is required or a few places where no concealed weapon is allowed.

     Deleting “but nothing herein contained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons” from Article II, Section 12, would not increase or enlarge Montanans’ right to keep or bear arms. Montana already has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country so deleting the quoted phrase is not necessary to “strengthen” or “fortify” our right of self-defense. 

     Also, as the U.S. Supreme Court said in its Second Amendment cases, the right to keep or bear arms is not unlimited. Concealed weapons prohibitions and laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings are examples that the court gives of restrictions that do not infringe upon the right to keep or bear arms. So, even if the quoted phrase is deleted from the constitution, it would not stop such limited restrictions – as noted above – from being held constitutional by the courts. HB 551 would not have “enshrined” the carrying of concealed weapons into the Montana constitution.