Montana labor news., 1946-02-28
PROTECT YOUR
RIGHT TO HAVE
AND BEAR ARMS

Address delivered over Station kGlR
BY W. l.. (BilD Snyder, February 10Th,
1916.
Fellow Sportsmen and Montana
Citizens.
During the 18th Congress 700 bills
were introduccd-s,4N III the lower
House and ,, rs in the Senate. Tor
This reason we are making an intcn-
s;ve effort to arouse in each and every
ono of us the fighting spirit OF our an
ccstors. which seems TO be sleeping or
Ianuuishing. Every Sportsman should
be alive 10 the great danger concerning
his rights that turks in some OF hese
bills. The pathetic part OF the whole
matter is that a substantial portion OF
the sportsmen are not alert to the leg
~islation being introduced.
Eight million American sportsmen
are pursuing and ~perpetuating the
knowledge and use OF firearms. This
is the most additionally American OF
all American sports. 1t is an meal
oulable asset to the effective organi-
zation OF National Defense. Ii is cN-
piessly ~saicguardcd and guaranteed to
us By the constitutions oi the United
States and OF Montana.
With these facts constantly before
them and Tor reasons obscure 70 Us. tire
Powers That BE in the national legs
lature refuse TO recognize any Otter
cncc between the racketcering eanester
ard the Law abiding sporisman-and
as evidence OF this We oiior Tor. your
consideration some Of the erack-pot
anti-fircarms legislation that has been
proposed to a long suffering Congress
during the last iew years-lcgisiltion
which seeks 10 disarm the ganss;cr by
the simple oNredient OF deprivnI all
persons OF their constitutional privilege
to keep and bear arms, as provided IN
this nations Eli 81 Rights. l9l are
all familiar with the obvious iutillty Of
such laws. in that the honest man ohcys
and goes rnarmed while the eangster,
whose business is breaking laws, Just
breaks another and goes armcd-eener-
ally with a stolen or unregistered gl'n.
We wish il could be impressed upon
these jealous but misguided reform
lists that sportsmen and criminals have
nothing in common, that II IS not
necessary to offer the sportsman as a
sacrifice on the altar OF law and order
so that the gangster may also be burn
ed. that there is a difference between
a tommy-gun and a twelve gauge shot
gun: that it is not the firearms that are
lawless but the persons who use them
for lawless purposes. Yet most OF then
the attempts to erase banditry and
homicide from these United States are
directed at the gun rather than at the
man behind it.
The favorite pattern OF such lepis-
lation is a proposed law to require TBl
registration Of certain kinds OF fire
arms on the fatuous assumption that
such registration will make il :mpos-
sible for gangsters to possess the work
ing tools OF their profession. For the
past thirty years the National Rifle
Association with upwards of $4,000
members with 90 directors scattered
around the country and corps Of highly
trained executives at its headquarters
in Washington have been fighting tie
anti-gun forces in committees in Con-
gress and Of the legislatures OF various
states. This organization together
with the sportsmen's clubs nf the ma
ton defeated the latest effort, in l94l,
to bring the firearms Of all sportsmcn
and law abiding citizens under the
Seizure Of Property Act" that Act
was passed with firearms excluded
from its provisions.
Once more we are called upon to
rally our forces and 60 forth 10 do bat
tie against another such a proposed Law
now pending before Congress. This
proposed law in its present form is
nothing more or less than a nation
wide conspiracy against all good Ane;
leans. 1t is sponsored by the so-callcd
nti-Firearms legislation movement.
1t never sleeps. 1t never rests. 1t
never overlooks the least opportunity
10 snipe at us by any means, far or
foul, generally foul. 1t is known as