I suspect there may be another gun control case on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the future which, if it happens, will be an interesting test of the push in the current U.S. Supreme Court towards States Rights. I have posted in this blog previously about the legislation passed by the Montana state legislature allowing students to carry weapons on college campuses in this state. Montana is one of the states where no permit is required to carry a concealed weapon. Any Tom, Dick or ‘Dirty Harry’ can walk into a store here, purchase a handgun, and carry it with no training or permit required.
The Montana state constitution gives complete authority to set policy on college campuses to the Montana State Board of Regents. The Montana state legislature tried to usurp that authority by passing HB 102 which authorized students (and faculty) to carry weapons on campus in complete contradiction to the Montana constitution. Like so many of the laws enacted by the Republican-controlled legislature during the last session, this law ended up in litigation.
Fortunately, the Montana Supreme Court just ruled that the Board of Regents does, in fact, have complete authority to set policy on college campuses and, therefore, HB 102 does NOT apply to college campuses. The Board of Regents can and will restrict the carrying of firearms on campus – for the time being. I say ‘for the time being’ because I would not be surprised if our state attorney general files a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court to have this decision overturned.
If that happens, the irony would be astounding. The Republicans in the state legislature continue to scream about ‘states rights’ and applaud things like the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return that decision to the states. Of course, if our own Montana State Supreme Court issues a decision with which the Republicans disagree, they want the Federal government to intervene to overturn that decision. I guess ‘states rights’ is only a good thing when you get your way.
I suspect it is likely that the Montana attorney general may go down this path because of a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a state law in New York regarding the ability of people to carry concealed weapons in that state. The current U.S. Supreme Court has a history of siding against the regulation of firearms and broadly interpreting the Second Amendment in favor of gun rights advocates. Given this environment, it would not surprise me if this local Montana issue finds its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, for the time being, students and faculty are prohibited from carrying weapons on campus!
Like some many things that find their way into our judicial system these days, this issue is much bigger than the ability of students to carry weapons on campus. If the Montana State legislature is allowed to usurp the authority granted to the Board of Regents under the state constitution with respect to weapons, what is to keep them from interfering with other areas that are the responsibility of the Board of Regents? Will they decide to start imposing restrictions on certain courses or curricula? It’s hard to imagine that could happen in this country but, then again, who would have thought a few years ago there would be such a push to ban books like we are seeing now.
I assure you, this decision by the Montana Supreme Court is not the end of this issue. The negative feedback is already starting to surface from Montana Republican state legislators and, in addition, to the very real possibility this will try to find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Republicans are already having discussions about rewriting the Montana State constitution and/or changing the way justices are nominated and elected to the Montana Supreme Court.
For the time being, regulation of carrying weapons on campuses is under the purview of the Board of Regents and is currently restricted. Stand by. Those who yell the loudest about ‘law and order’ don’t like this decision so they will try to change or circumvent the law and create more disorder until such time as they get their way. This is, after all, not about ‘law and order’ or ‘freedom’, it is simply about power and control.