Complaint filed against Gary M. - MSSA - MT HB 228

[Catherine]

http://thehighroad.us/showthread.php...56#post5137356

Under Activism.

Complaint filed against GARY M. - MSSA! - HB 228
I was given permission to post ALL of this information by Gary M.

This 'complaint' is a crock of dung!

This is for the old readers here (THR.us) and the NEW readers that heard about this issue when I called into a radio show discussing this 'complaint', reading this MSSA email over the air, discussing other pro gun and other pro liberty issues.

Yours in liberty,

Catherine
Montana Shooting Sports Association Member
Armed and Female
Montana Territory for now...


Sender: Gary Marbut-MSSA <mssa@mtssa.org>
Subject: Complaint filed against me
Date: Thu, 21 May 2009 10:23:58 -0600
To: mssa@mtssa.org

Dear MSSA Friends,

You may be interested to know that a complaint has been filed against me by Jim Smith, the lobbyist for the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (MSPOA). Smith's complaint to the Commissioner of Political Practices asserts that I illegally lobbied the Legislature, and violated Montana law, because I was not registered with the Commissioner as a lobbyist.

Pasted below are two letters to the Commissioner in response to the complaint, one letter I WILL send (out in the mail today), and another letter I really wanted to send but decided not to. These letters will explain the situation.

I consider this complaint to be an attack by the MSPOA, and an ill-considered attempt to harass, intimidate, and maybe silence me (and via me, you).

Best wishes,

Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com

====================================
On MSSA letterhead
This is the letter I DID send to the CPP

May 21, 2009

Mr. Dennis Unsworth
Commissioner of Political Practices
P.O. Box 202401
Helena, Montana 59620

Re: Complaint by Jim Smith

Dear Commissioner Unsworth,

I have reviewed the complaint filed by Jim Smith of the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association accusing me of illegally lobbying without being registered with your office.

Specifically excluded from the definition of a lobbyist is any individual who receives payments from one or more persons that total less than the amount specified under Mont. Code Ann. 5-7-112 in a calendar year. I received no payments for my activities on behalf of MSSA before the Montana Legislature. My time was donated. Thus, I am not a "lobbyist", as that term is defined in the Montana Code.

I request the complaint be dismissed.

Sincerely,


Gary Marbut

=========================

This is the letter I DID NOT send (but I really wanted to).

DRAFT - unsent


May 21, 2009


Mr. Dennis Unsworth
Commissioner of Political Practices
P.O. Box 202401
Helena, Montana 59620

Dear Commissioner Unsworth,

I am in receipt of your letter of April 29, 2009, referring to the complaint filed against me by Jim Smith who is a lobbyist for and represents the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and the Montana County Attorneys Association.

Thank you for giving me a chance to respond to this complaint.

Smith's complaint alleges that:

1) I appeared before legislative committees speaking in favor of or opposed to various legislation as a representative of the Montana Shooting Sports Association,

2) I am not registered with your office as a lobbyist, and

3) By doing so I must have violated some laws.

Points 1) and 2) are correct. Point 3) is a mistake on the part of Mr. Smith, made for reasons I will explain.

The Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA), is, as the name states, an association of people interested in specific topics. Because MSSA is, in fact, an association of individuals, its activities are protected by the freedom of association that the people have reserved to themselves from government interference in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which applies to the states through "incorporation") and in Article II, Section 3 and Section 7 of the Montana Constitution.

I am not an employee of MSSA. I am an elected officer - the President. I am also Chairman of the Board of Directors. These are both volunteer positions. I often characterize my political activities in Helena as those of a "citizen advocate." I do not hold a paid position with MSSA. I am not compensated, at all, by MSSA for the time I spend in Helena attempting to advance the interests of MSSA members and other citizens of Montana.

In that capacity, I am exercising the freedom of speech the people have reserved to themselves from government interference also in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (also incorporated as applicable to the states), and Article II, Section 6 of the Montana Constitution. Not only am I exercising free speech, I am exercising political free speech, a category of free speech that has been most highly protected and prized speech by the courts and our society.

And, in addition to the fact that I don't get paid by MSSA (or anyone else) to advocate for citizens in Helena, I forego significant personal income because of the time I spend traveling, spend in Helena, and spend communicating with legislators and MSSA members. I lose money at this; I don't make money.

On most of the occasions when I testified before committees of the 2009 Legislature, I reported that I was speaking also on behalf of the following organizations and their members (more freedom of speech exercise):

Montana Shooting Sports Association, Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Weapons Collectors Society of Montana, Montana Rifle and Pistol Association, Montana Women's Shooting Association, Western Montana Fish and Game Association, Big Sky Practical Shooting Club, Custer Rod and Gun Club, Big Muddy Practical Shooting Association, Richland County Sportsmens Club, Bigfork Gun Club, Samuel Whitamore Memorial Range in Three Forks, Gallatin County Campaign for Liberty, MSU Young Americans for Liberty. For the record, none of these organizations paid me as much as one dime for the time I spent in Helena.

I cannot locate any laws in the Montana Codes Annotated that require a citizen, or a citizen operating as a volunteer, to register with your office and pay a fee to be allowed to offer an opinion to the Legislature or legislators. I believe no such law exists. If such a law did exist, it certainly would not long be tolerated by the courts.

Smith is also correct that I did send emails to MSSA members across Montana about issues of interest before the Legislature. If it matters, I sent those messages from my personal computer to people who have asked to be on the MSSA email information list, yet another exercise in free speech. Since I was reporting on events in Helena, that exercise may also fall within the reserved freedom of the press.

The real issue is that Mr. Smith is a sore loser. He's feeling snitty because the measure MSSA supported, and he unsuccessfully opposed on behalf of the MSPOA and the MCAA, was approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. HB 228 is now the law in Montana, despite Mr. Smith's recorded but unsuccessful opposition.

When testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in opposition to HB 228, Mr. Smith asserted that his employers "pay me well" for lobbying. Others may judge whether that payment is well spent by his employers. More important, it appears that Mr. Smith simply cannot comprehend that ordinary citizens will commit time and effort simply to assert important principles, principles enshrined in the Montana Constitution. I guess it takes a person of principle to recognize another. Mr. Smith, on the other hand is a mercenary - a hired gun - in his lobbying endeavors, and apparently assumes that anyone else in the same arena must be a mercenary too. That, of course, is a seriously flawed assumption on the part of Mr. Smith, but personally consistent with the equally flawed assumptions he voiced about HB 228.

Mr. Unsworth, this complaint filed by Mr. Smith is clearly frivolous. It is unfortunate Mr. Smith chose to waste your time with it. He has my phone number. He could have called me to clear this up. Instead, he opted to attempt to use the power of a government agency to harass me (not a surprising choice for Mr. Smith). We will leave for another day the question of whether or not he has slandered me or attempted to damage my reputation. However, if you have a mechanism available to sanction people who file frivolous complaints, I request that you apply that mechanism to Mr. Smith.

Mr. Unsworth, having had considerable experience in arena of public policy formulation, here's what I suspect is actually going on: Mr. Smith persuaded his employers, MSPOA and MCAA, that HB 228 was a dangerous bogeyman demanding opposition in order to impress those employers with need to freely spend the "good money" those employers pay him. Having broken the MSPOA and MCAA lance against the windmill of HB 228, and having recklessly squandered the finite political capital of MSPOA and MCAA in this losing effort, Smith must now claim that he was operating on an unfair, unlevel playing field in order to justify to his employers why he failed to destroy the windmill he'd sworn was actually a fierce dragon. I suspect that Smith is being called on the carpet by his employers for having wasted their influence on HB 228 when other legislative issues were practically more important to them. Blaming me for his failure in judgment and ability is Mr. Smith's excuse to his employers. The complaint filed is simply the formalization of that excuse.

Frankly, this reminds me of the time the Montana Human Rights Network accused me of being a racist, coincidentally the very same week that MSSA endorsed Dr. Alan Keyes for President and when Dr. Keyes was a guest in my home. Like that incident, if this weren't so venal it would be hilarious.

Sincerely yours,




Gary Marbut, President

Cc: MSSA Board of Directors
MSSA members
Organizations listed on Page 1
Associated Press
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
Chairman, Senate Legislative Administration Committee
Chairman, House Ethics Committee
__________________

[Catherine]

Gee, more of the 'THEM' against US. THEY don't like the self defense bill... oh, cry me a river! Sniff, sniff.

They were against this bill like stink on S, errr, dung. Information is in the Activism section and all over the place under other posts when everyone was in Helena fighting for the self defense bill, MT Made Guns, etc.

This is nuts!

This is a ridiculous complaint and I hope that Montana people, other people out of state and ALL MSSA members write letters about this 'complaint' and spread the WORD on pro gun and pro liberty boards about this issue with Gary M.

Thank you!

Yours in liberty,

Catherine
Armed and Female
Montana Territory for now...

[Dark Tranquility]

I’ll certainly write some letters, send faxes emails, etc but to where/who?

Do you have an official link to this? I’ll cross post this on some other message boards but usually don’t like linking from one discussion forum to another.

Thanks, for keeping us informed.

Dan

[wristtwister]

As someone totally removed from the situation, I would remind all of you what is going on in Washington. The new tactic is to pick "high powered individuals" and undermine and slander them in an attempt to undermine their legitimate role in the governmental process, and then replace them with a thug.

Years ago, before I actually understood politics, I was one of those "high powered individuals", who actually led an important organization. Luckily, I had good counsel, and removed myself before the costs and public humiliation of having charges filed against me took place. Our attorney, however, who ran for the state house of representatives, was indicted on trumped up charges during the election season and then the charges were mysteriously dropped immediately after the election... so the "old school" playbook is still being used.

This tactic is used when elections for actual state offices are used, and in the process of attempting to pass or stop laws from being passed, which appears to be this case. The way to beat this is to file a slander suit against the people making the allegations, and then move the court arguments out of the kangaroo court system where they expect this to be tried.

Look for more of the same in every state where our gun laws are being challenged or revised to allow more freedom.

WT

[Standing Wolf]

Look for more of the same in every state where our gun laws are being challenged or revised to allow more freedom.

Amen. I think sometimes leftist extremists would rather cheat than win fairly and squarely.

[Catherine]

This 'complaint' filed against Gary M., an individual and PRO GUN ACTIVIST, by the LOBBYIST for the 'law enforcement community and government folks' should concern all activists and not only in GUN issues.

Take note of this... thank you!

Montana folks - get the word out please.

Catherine
Montana Shooting Sports Association Member

[Halo]

There are elements in law enforcement, mainly among the political leadership, who think defense against criminals is their exclusive domain, and they don't like any mere citizen intruding onto that monopoly. You can see evidence of this mentality in news reports of citizens defending themselves, there's almost always the vaguely condescending cautionary statement from some police spokesperson about how people should really just give the attacker whatever they want and call the police.

In a similar situation, the North Carolina Sheriff's Association recently put pressure on the legislature in opposition to a bill that would do away with our anachronistic law requiring citizens to obtain a "pistol purchase permit" from their local sheriff in order to purchase a handgun. It's a leftover Jim Crowe law designed to give sheriffs arbitrary discretion over who can and who can't legally purchase a handgun.

[Standing Wolf]

...Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and the Montana County Attorneys Association...

Well, yeah, but some cops say they support hunting.

[230RN]

Colorado has provisions for Volunteer Lobbyists. You have to register and then you're good to go.

I hope Montana doesn't have the same kind of provisions that perhaps were violated...?


Not much information on this link, but shows the volunteer lobbyist program still exists in Colorado:
http://www.elections.colorado.gov/DD....aspx?tid=1020

This one has a little more info:
https://www.cu.edu/sg/messages/4919.html

Relevant portion in red as quoted from there:

HSC students asked to sign in as volunteer lobbyists

April 6, 2006

By Marianne Goodland
Silver & Gold Record reporter

During party caucuses on the Long Appropriations Bill last week, two Health Sciences Center students, Amy Alexander and Rachael Brink, assisted CU lobbyists in advocating for additional funding for the HSC. That got the attention of representatives from Colorado Common Cause and CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group), who asked Tanya Kelly-Bowry, CU associate vice president for state and federal government relations, to make sure the students registered as volunteer lobbyists. According to Kelly-Bowry's legislative update on e-mail, the students did subsequently register as requested.

Pete Maysmith of Colorado Common Cause told S&GR this week that he is not "going after" students. "I just want people to know who's lobbying on bills," he said. Maysmith said his organization works for civic engagement and believes one important way to boost it is for young people to engage in the process. "The fact that they're up there is the best thing that could happen to that building," he said. However, he added, in the interest of open government, people should have information on who is lobbying. He pointed out that registering as a volunteer lobbyist doesn't cost anything, and there isn't any ongoing bureaucracy. "You put your name down and walk away. If it were any more burdensome we wouldn't support it," he said. Maysmith also pointed out that under state law, people who testify at committee hearings do not have to register as volunteer lobbyists. He said public recognition of volunteer lobbying rules is "nonexistent." "There isn't any reason in the world not to comply," he added. "It's just a question of `did you know?' It's just a good thing to do to keep the system open and transparent."

Rules governing lobbyists are covered in state law under Article 6 of the Colorado Sunshine Law. Lobbying is defined as any communication, directly or by asking others to, with an elected official for the purposes of influencing that official's activity on a bill, resolution, amendment, nomination, appointment or report. Professional lobbyists, defined as those who are paid to do so, must register with the Colorado Secretary of State's office. Volunteer lobbyists, who are not paid but might be reimbursed for expenses, must register with the chief clerk of the House of Representatives under joint rules of the House and Senate. Unlike professional lobbyists, volunteer lobbyists are not required to file disclosure statements that detail lobbying agreements or expenses. The most recent list of volunteer lobbyists from the House of Representatives includes about 100 individuals, with three showing no affiliation with any group. While criminal and civil penalties can be assessed to professional lobbyists for failure to comply with state law, the only remedy for failure to comply with the rules on volunteer lobbyists is to complain to the leadership of the House and Senate.

A draft administrative policy statement on lobbying identifies those authorized to lobby on behalf of the University as persons paid to do so, and does not address the issue of who is or isn't a volunteer lobbyist. Jeremy Hueth of University counsel said Wednesday that the HSC students registered as a precaution. "What a private citizen does [at the Capitol] is not our business," he said. "Everyone else -- such as faculty or staff -- who is down there on their own accord does so because of their own interest. They're not required to register as University lobbyists."

In Colorado, I guess penalties for "violating" the volunteer lobbyist program are nonexistent, but it might be worthwhile to check out the situation for Montana.

(That's the best I could do right now with my google limitations. I added the whole text of the article because of its relationship to Common Cause.)

Terry, 230RN

[deaconkharma]

this is what is known as a SLAPP lawsuit
(Strategic Lawsuit Against Private Participation)
This should be exposed as such in court and moved against as abuse of taxpayer funding.
This happened to many folks that signed a petition in Florence county against the DOT there who had misappropriated funds to other uses than their intent. Rather than fight or argue that particular issue, they took certain signatories to court to intimidate the rest.
Even if they won, they lost time and money. That in itself intimidates others. There is something that lawmakers SHOULD work on. But they won't. You've heard of carrot and stick? This is the stick.

[Rugerlvr]

Amen. I think sometimes politicians would rather cheat than win fairly and squarely.

Fixed that for you.

[TallPine]

Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association

I'm going to remember all this the next time they call me up asking for donations

[SCKimberFan]

Amen. I think sometimes leftist extremists and politicians would rather cheat than win fairly and squarely.

There, fixed it for you!

[M203Sniper]

The one you did send was the better letter.

Took you about 2 minutes to write and it will cost them $$$ when you counter sue.

[Rugerlvr]

Amen. I think sometimes leftist and rightist extremists and politicians would rather cheat than win fairly and squarely.

We could go on like this all day, but let's not.

[Halo]

Colorado has provisions for Volunteer Lobbyists. You have to register and then you're good to go.

I hope Montana doesn't have the same kind of provisions that perhaps were violated...?

In one of the letters, the second one I believe, he mentions that he receives no compensation or reimbursement for the expenses he incurs, so I don't think he meets the definition of anything other than a private citizen.

[GigaBuist]

I got a chance to meet Gary Marbut a couple of years back shortly after KT Ordnance was raided. Heck of a nice guy, level headed, great shot, generous, intelligent, and I must say looks much younger than he actually is.

If he's even ACCIDENTALLY in violation of some stupid law I'd be really surprised.