GunLink Discussion Forums

General Category => Get Local => Montana => Topic started by: LivingDeadGirl on September 12, 2016, 02:52:50 PM

Title: URGENT: Public Hearing on Firearms Sales in Missoula
Post by: LivingDeadGirl on September 12, 2016, 02:52:50 PM
The city of Missoula, MT will be holding a public reading and hearing on an ordinance to restrict gun sales within the city on Monday, September 26 at 7:00 PM.

The ordinance, proposed by council members Bryan von Lossberg, Marilyn Marler, and Emily Bentley, would require a background check on all gun sales and trasfers, including private transactions, with an exception for families. The ordinance was originally proposed in October of last year and more than 300 people showed up to the meeting.

Supporters say that everything to stop firearms from getting into hands of people who cannot have them is a good step. Opponents say that the city is trying to force dealers out of the city since the ordinance will publish the addresses of all FFLs in the city and about 66% of the FFLs in the city operate out of their private homes. This also creates a burden on the FFLs who now have to perform background checks for weapons that they do not have cataloged. The other big issue that opponents have is that enforcement is left largely to the FFL community, with some of city council suggesting that the FFLs should report illegal transactions.

The proposal is mostly unchanged from 2015. Jail time as a a penalty has been removed.