BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief with the Montana Supreme Court supporting the state’s defense of its statute allowing legally-licensed citizens to carry concealed on grounds controlled by the Montana University System (MUS).
The university system Board of Regents sued the state insisting that only it has the authority to regulate firearms on college campuses.
Joining SAF are the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance and Madison Society Foundation, Inc. They are represented by attorneys Donald Kilmer of Caldwell, Idaho and Alexandria Kincaid of Emmett, Idaho.
The state contends it should have exclusive authority to regulate firearms within its borders. But the MUS Board of Regents “has come to this court with the claim that they are the better entity to regulate bearing arms by individuals while on university campuses,” the amicus brief states. The disagreement is likened to “competing relatives seeking guardianship over a child unable to exercise rights in their own name” in the brief.
“We believe the state is far better qualified to regulate firearms than the Board of Regents,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The Board is attempting to usurp the power of the state.”
The amicus brief cites the Montana constitution’s right-to-bear-arms language, and focuses attention on annual reports from the University of Montana and campus police showing there are crimes committed on campuses.
Gun free school zones are a magnet for crazed, violent people, and law-abiding Montana residents need to be able to carry firearms on campus to protect themselves,” Gottlieb said.
“The Board of Regents essentially treats adult students, faculty members, staff and visitors the same as it treats minors,” Gottlieb observed. “There is no regard for the ability of adults to provide for their own safety on campus. We agree with the state that the Montana University System is exercising a power it doesn’t have, and that’s why we have filed our brief.”