Montana Gun Group Moves to Intervene in Missoula Lawsuit
On Friday, the Montana Shooting Sports Association moved to intervene in the City of Missoula’s lawsuit against Montana Attorney General Tim Fox over the ‘Bloomberg Ordinance’.
Missoula’s gun ordinance was ruled as unenforceable by the Attorney General as it conflicts with state law.
MSSA President Gary Marbut said the intervention is to protect the rights of the organization’s members.
“The Attorney General is making statements about state law and how it preempts and prevails over a city ordinance,” said Marbut. “We believe there is a constitutional dimension to this and so, especially with the Bloomberg Ordinance would deprive Montana and Missoula citizens of the right to bear arms that the Montana Constitution says cannot be called into question.”
The City of Missoula has sued the State Attorney General asking the federal courts to overturn the AG’s opinion.
Marbut said the Attorney General’s opinion holds the force of law regarding the gun ordinance unless and until it is overturned by a higher court.
“We’ll have to see what the District Court says and whether there will be an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court or even the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said.
The disagreement between the city of Missoula and the Attorney General centered on an exemption to a state statute prohibiting municipalities from regulating the transfer of firearms.