Sometimes, I get to write about a state fighting for the rights of its citizens, and although I’m still likely to say mean things about detractors, I revel in the opportunity to praise legislature that reflects our Founding values as a nation. Today, it’s the state of Montana where a bill has been advanced by the House that seeks to prohibit local governments from enacting red-flag gun laws. 

With an overwhelming number of Republican co-sponsors, House Bill 809 has been advanced as of Thursday, March 6, by a 54-45 vote. The bill will ban local municipalities within the state from instituting extreme risk protection orders (ERPO), temporary measures that allow a judge to force a citizen to surrender their firearms while considering that individual’s potential risk to themselves and others.

Supporters of the bill have applauded the move to defend Montanans Second Amendment rights. In addition, as these individuals have not been convicted of a crime, the measure also defends the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, both of which guarantee protection from the deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process. To allow such a blatant violation of these foundational principles would be even more egregious than using psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit the crime, as in the science fiction movie Minority Report, but worse if you suspend disbelief because those arrests were predicated on psychic visions versus a hunch or simply an accusation.

“This is a commonsense measure to make sure individuals are not deprived of their ability to keep and bear arms without due process. We saw the Biden regime during their tyrannical and overreaching authoritarian administration push red flag laws through federal grants… Looking ahead into the future, should we be cursed with another progressive administration, Montana cities and counties will be prohibited from accepting federal money to implement ERPO-style programs. Article 2, section 12 of the Montana state Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms, as does the Second Amendment of the United States,” says Representative Braxton Mitchell, the lead sponsor of HB 809 and a Republican from Columbia Falls.

Fake Republican John Fitzpatrick of Anaconda, one of three conservative posers in the Montana House of Representatives who voted against the bill, took the oppertunity to spout his own petulant view of the Second Amendment while exposing the fact that he is either not aware of the Fourth and Fifteenth Amendments or is too illiterate to read them. 

“What we have here is a piece of legislation that is driven by some policy crafted by the former Biden administration. Whether it actually had any effect on the state of Montana is unknown because the sponsor can’t identify if any of these orders were ever issued… This is not a Second Amendment right bill; this is another piece of legislation, just like we had yesterday, where the Second Amendment is being waved as a flag for the specific purpose of protecting people who engage in criminal activity. This thing deserves a big, solid, red no,” said Fitzpatrick.

I implore Montanans to send this pair of clown shoes to the unemployment line next election cycle so he can swap out his suit for a woven poncho and a pair of skinny jeans while he waits to grow out his man bun. 

The bill is subject to a final House reading by the end of the week and will then advance to the Senate. Currently, the state does not have any red-flag gun laws on the books, and thanks to this legislation, I hope it never will.