U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Montana Gun Rights Case

The United States Supreme Court has refused to consider a lower court ruling against the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, however, the issue has not yet been completely defeated.

President of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, Gary Marbut, said on Tuesday, January 14, that even though the Supreme Court may have refused the case, another avenue still remains open to pursue the effort.

"The Supreme Court denied our petition for them to accept the case of MSSA v. Holder which was our case to validate the principles of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, and to use firearms as the vehicle to challenge federal commerce clause powers," Marbut said. "However, the State of Montana has filed its own petition, and that petition is still pending. There is still hope on the horizon, so we'll see what the Supreme Court will do with that petition that was written by the Solicitor General of the state of Montana to take up the case."

Marbut acknowledged that the effort to move the court, and the federal government in a direction to expand gun rights was a difficult one.

"We've always known that we're swimming upstream, so I'm not holding my breath," Marbut said. "We're still hopeful that the Supreme Court will step up to the plate and have a look at the case."

Marbut said eventually, the states will have to somehow rein in the attempts by the federal government and its three branches to seize more and more control from the people.

"It is probably inappropriate to expect the federal government to restrain its own excess of power," Marbut said. "So, I suspect one of the things that will be obvious as a result of this whole effort is that it's incumbent upon the states to put on a leash this monster that they have created. I suspect that the battleground will be shifting from asking Washington, D.C. to mind its manners, to the states telling Washington D.C. to back off."

Marbut said the legal process for the state's petition will take several months before any decision is made by the Supreme Court.