Montana – -(AmmoLand.com)- When we talk about opportunities to make gains in protecting our Second Amendment rights, Montana looms large. This is a state where the Second Amendment is respected, but all too often, those opposed to our rights – or at least, who don’t fully defend the Second Amendment in every aspect.
In 2018, Second Amendment supporters got a double whammy. Jon Tester was narrowly re-elected. Worse, Steve Bullock, who is challenging Senator Steven Daines, turned on law-abiding gun owners. There is a bright spot, though. With his challenge to Daines, Bullock is vacating the governor’s mansion, and this is a chance for Second Amendment supporters to make a gain.
As is the case with the governor’s race in North Carolina, there was a decent bench for Second Amendment supporters. In this case, it stems from the fact that Montana has one seat in the House of Representatives. As a result, every two years, those candidates running for that seat have a statewide race.
The current Representative, Greg Gianforte, was the 2016 nominee for governor, and he came within 20,000 votes of toppling Bullock that year. He later ran for the seat vacated by Ryan Zinke, who became Secretary of the Interior, in 2017 and won re-election in 2018. Gianforte’s been a solid supporter of our Second Amendment rights, and made it a featured part of his 2020 gubernatorial campaign.
Gianforte faces Montana’s current lieutenant governor, Mike Cooley. Cooley’s site does not discuss Second Amendment issues – which could be a way of him keeping options open to do what Bullock did in 2018. Whatever his positions on Second Amendment issues may be, his campaign site’s silence on our freedoms speaks volumes, and none of it is good.
The fact remains, Second Amendment supporters have been willing to gamble on people who don’t have a track record or who don’t talk about the issues law-abiding gun owners care about. See Maryland’s Larry Hogan for one example. But Montana is not Maryland, and in Montana, Second Amendment supporters should expect more in much friendlier territory.
In this situation, Second Amendment supporters should be working to have Gianforte win this gubernatorial bid. If for no other reason than to keep a strong bench to take on Tester again in 2024. Second Amendment supporters can check out Gianforte’s campaign site. They also should support the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund. Montana deserves to have a governor who respects our right to keep and bear arms.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
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