MISSOULA, Mont. — Gary Marbut says Americans would be a lot safer if everyone owned a gun.
“The bad people would gradually be eliminated from the population by the multitude of good people who are armed,” he said days after a weekend of mass shootings left 31 dead and sent shock waves across the country.
Marbut was furious when the Missoula City Council passed a law requiring stricter background checks. The measure would not affect him personally, since he lives just outside the city. But the president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association is opposed on principle.
In 2020, he’ll have a chance to help reshape the law.
On Election Day, Montana voters will decide whether local governments should be allowed to set tighter gun restrictions. The referendum, if passed, would reverse Missoula’s law and make it impossible for other towns and cities to set their own gun policies.
