MISSOULA – Attorney General Tim Fox is asking a Missoula District Court judge to reconsider his ruling upholding Missoula’s gun show ordinance.
Last week, Judge Dusty Deschamps had issued a summary judgement in favor of the City of Missoula, saying the city had the right to enact rules requiring background checks for guns that were sold at shows taking place in the city.
That ordinance had been approved two years ago this fall. But an AG’s opinion requested by a legislator last year said Montana’s Constitution didn’t give that kind of authority to cities and towns. City leaders filed suit to force the question earlier this year.
Now, the State is asking Deschamps to reconsider the ruling, saying the judge acted before Monday’s deadline for the submission of arguments in the case.
If Deschamps declines the order, the AG would then be forced to appeal the case to the Montana Supreme Court.
