skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

MT Ballot Measure Would Eliminate Local Gun Regulation Authority

play audio
Play

Thursday, February 6, 2020   

HELENA, Mont. -- After a contentious battle last year, voters will get to decide in November whether local Montana communities can write their own gun regulations.

The pre-emption measure would remove local governments' authority to regulate firearms.

It was passed and referred to voters last year by the Montana Legislature after Gov. Steve Bullock vetoed a similar bill.

It's also in response to a Missoula city ordinance requiring background checks for gun sales.

That measure was later repealed by the state Supreme Court, and Kelly Lynch, deputy director/general counsel of the Montana League of Cities and Towns, wonders what issue this referendum is trying to fix.

"There are some protections for folks in our local communities that I think has never been called into question," she points out. "Do we want folks to be able to carry on school property? Do we want folks to be able to carry in the courtroom? Do we want folks to be able to carry at public assemblies?"

The Montana League of Cities and Towns was among a half-dozen groups to sue the state over what plaintiffs say is confusing language in the referendum, noting it fails to mention local governments will not be able to regulate firearms in places such as schools.

The state Supreme Court has ruled to keep the language as it was when the Legislature passed it.

Authors of the bill say the purpose is to prevent a patchwork of laws across the state. But Lynch says localities have been passing regulations since Montana became a state.

"And that's been happening over the last 130 years," she states. "So we're really worried about what is going to be the end result of these changes in the law, and there's a lot of confusion among everyone about this referendum says and what will be the end result."

Lynch maintains the language of the measure is so confusing that even if it passes, it will cost the state a lot of money in litigation to determine what the measure actually does.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021