HELENA – The Montana Attorney General is likely to appeal a Missoula County District Court judge’s ruling rejecting the state’s case, now that the judge had rejected a motion to reconsider.
Judge “Dusty” Deschamps recently ruled in favor of the City of Missoula, which had brought the suit questioning an opinion by the Attorney General’s office issued earlier this year.
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That opinion said the city didn’t have the authority to implement the additional rules requiring background checks on firearms sold at gun shows under the Montana Constitution.
The state objected because Deschamps’ ruling was issued a few days before the agreed-upon deadline for the filing of court briefs. The AG’s office asked Deschamps to reconsider, but the judge is now saying he won’t re-open the case.
John Barnes, the spokesman for Attorney General Tim Fox, told MTN News the state “most certainly will appeal” the case to the Montana Supreme Court, although he isn’t sure exactly when it will be filed.
