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Gun Groups to Sue over Montana-made and Retained Firearms

August 21st, 2009

MISSOULA, MT – the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA) and the
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) have formed a strategic alliance to
litigate the principles of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA),
passed by the 2009 Montana Legislature and signed into law by Montana
Governor Brian Schweitzer.

The MFFA declares that any firearms made and retained in Montana are
not subject to any federal authority, resisting Congress’s
dramatically expanded use of the interstate commerce clause to
justify Washington’s regulation of virtually all of the private
economy.  The MFFA also applies to firearm accessories and ammunition.

MSSA is most well-known for advancing pro-gun and pro-hunting bills
in the Montana Legislature, and has been successful with 54 pro-gun
and pro-hunting measures in the past 25 years.  SAF is a pro-gun
foundation in Bellevue, Washington, established to press the rights
of gun owners primarily in judicial fora.  SAF has been a party to
numerous lawsuits to assert the rights of gun owners across the Nation.

The primary purpose of the MFFA is to set up a legal challenge to
federal power under the commerce clause.  MSSA and SAF expect to
mount this legal challenge by filing a suit for a declaratory
judgment to test the principles of the MFFA in federal court on
October 1st, the day the Montana law becomes effective.

The concept of the Firearms Freedom Act has caught fire
nationwide.  Tennessee has passed a clone of the MFFA.  Other clones
have been introduced in the legislatures of Alaska, Texas, Florida,
South Carolina, Minnesota and Michigan.  Legislators in 19 other
states have indicated that they will introduce MFFA clones soon or
when their legislatures next convene.  See:  https://firearmsfreedomact.com

This wave of interest across the Nation is what the federal judiciary
calls “emerging consensus” and will play an important role in
validating the principles of the MFFA.

MSSA president Gary Marbut commented, “We’re excited to get the MFFA
into court to articulate and argue the principles of freedom and
states’ rights.  It’s especially encouraging that people in so many
other states are getting tickets to ride this particular freedom
train.  It will be an interesting journey, and we hope successful one.”

SAF founder Alan Gottlieb added, “This is an issue that needs public
attention because it challenges federal intrusion into an area where
the federal government clearly, and literally, has no business.”

The MSSA/SAF legal team is currently working up its arguments and
litigation strategy.  The team has identified several areas of
rationale’ that have never been discussed before in cases about
Congress’s commerce clause power.  The general thesis is that
Washington has gone way overboard in attempting to regulate the
internal affairs of states under the strained theory that states’
internal activities are related to interstate commerce.

Although the MFFA addresses firearms, ammunition and firearm
accessories specifically, it is primarily about states’ rights and
the commerce clause power of Congress.  Firearms are the object;
states’ rights and freedom are the subjects.

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Information:    Gary Marbut; 406-549-1252
http://mtssa.org

Alan Gottlieb; 425-454-7012
http://saf.org

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