Mandate may not be so clear
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Editor,
HB 102, the “campus carry” law, would expand the number of locations where concealed handguns may be carried, including on college campuses.
It expressly prohibits the Montana Board of Regents from passing prohibitions to concealed carry. Additionally, voters approved a legislative referendum in November which restricts local governments from regulating the carrying of a concealed weapon with a permit. Attorney General Austin Knutson stated: There is a very clear mandate from the voters of Montana that they support exactly this type of legislation.
The bill passed the second reading along party lines. Rep. Jim Keane stirred things up when he asked all present if they had ever been shot. A ruckus ensued resulting in a Rules Committee ruling stifling Keane.
Opponents to HB 102 include the Commissioner of Higher Education, major public employee unions and bankers. Compelling opposition comes from students who feel that increased gun numbers, on their campuses, would be an obvious risk to their safety from, among other things, accidental discharge and easy access to a firearm when suicide is contemplated. Perhaps the “mandate from the voters of Montana” is not quite so clear.
Pat Cross
Polson
