Best Decision I've Ever Made - Affirmed! - 02/16/09
I had occasion yesterday to add some evidence to the best decision I have ever made, in fact, WAS, the best decision I have ever made!
That decision was made 12 years ago - and that decision was to pull my roots all up and move from the only place I have ever lived and the place I had lived for 49 years, and MOVE TO MONTANA!
The vehicle that brought the additional evidence of my good decision to me was a local (state) television program that informs Montana residents regarding the synopsis of the weeks legislative action on the state level!
Most of the program dealt with a proposed new law that would impose upon all Montana residents a whole new batch of GUN RIGHTS!
The law passed the 100 member legislative body by a vote of 58 to 42!
I was not aware of all the additional gun rights that this bill included until I saw this program.
Some of them stunned me!
And I am not stunned easily!
Of these many new rights proposed (and now passed) one stands particularly out and above the rest - and IT illustrates better than anything ONE of my main motivations for moving away from (out of!) Washington state!
This new right EXPANDS the right of any Montanan to carry his or her chosen gun IN FULL VIEW on their person not just in rural Montana (as is now the law!) but with the passage of this bill said Montanans can carry their favorite arm exposed and on their person inside ALL city limits!
One of the 42 democrats that argued against this law (and shortly thereafter voted against it!) quoted in literature FROM the National Rifle Association - "Montanans right now ENJOY the most Second Amendment friendly state laws in ANY of the United States and by virtue of that ranking then also IN THE WORLD" even without this new law!
She went on to state that this expansion of gun rights and her opposition to it would jeopardize her previous and present "B" and sometimes "A" ratings from the NRA!
A pro-legislation Republican member of the state legislature countered her hesitancy with the new bill by saying the last time the state legislature passed laws affirming the citizens right to keep and bear arms there were dire predictions - and in fact since then the opposite has occurred, including diminished crime rates, lower murder rate and etc!
There were tears in my eyes when the 50 Republicans and the 50 Democrats (coincidental split of this body by the way!) voted 58 to 42 for the bills passage! I even marveled at the even handed coverage of this news event as represented by the TV special!
In my previous life I seldon if ever saw any of that even handedness when it came to news coverage of proposed Second Amendment legislation!
I came from a city in which it was not unusual to have 5 bank robberies in a week!
Since I moved to this town (which has 5 banks and one credit union that I know of!) in SW Montana I have learned the last bank robbery here was 108 years ago!
And that "bank robber" was unsuccessful because his horse slipped on some ice at the beginning of his escape and the horse broke its leg!
The bank robber was taken into custody by a couple of armed citizens thereupon!
Back to the TV program - it went on and on about the citizens new and re-affirmed rights under this bill - I won't bore you with all the details, but will say this, if you like guns and you enjoy your gun rights then you should move to Montana!
And I am NOT saying that lightly - I know exactly how hard it was to uproot two school children aged 12 and 11 and take them to a strange state and a strange city and how big a step it was to bring along a city girl wife who had never lived anywhere but in Seattle, Washington herself, and I know what a huge step it is to move away from the bosom of ones family and friends and caring workmates!
But now after 11 full years I say this with even more conviction than I have in the past - moving to Montana was THE BEST DECISION I have ever made in my life!
Period!
SO take this advice or leave it - but I feel I must honestly express it to you all - pack up and move here to Montana!
You ONLY live ONCE!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
NRA Benefactor Life Member
That decision was made 12 years ago - and that decision was to pull my roots all up and move from the only place I have ever lived and the place I had lived for 49 years, and MOVE TO MONTANA!
The vehicle that brought the additional evidence of my good decision to me was a local (state) television program that informs Montana residents regarding the synopsis of the weeks legislative action on the state level!
Most of the program dealt with a proposed new law that would impose upon all Montana residents a whole new batch of GUN RIGHTS!
The law passed the 100 member legislative body by a vote of 58 to 42!
I was not aware of all the additional gun rights that this bill included until I saw this program.
Some of them stunned me!
And I am not stunned easily!
Of these many new rights proposed (and now passed) one stands particularly out and above the rest - and IT illustrates better than anything ONE of my main motivations for moving away from (out of!) Washington state!
This new right EXPANDS the right of any Montanan to carry his or her chosen gun IN FULL VIEW on their person not just in rural Montana (as is now the law!) but with the passage of this bill said Montanans can carry their favorite arm exposed and on their person inside ALL city limits!
One of the 42 democrats that argued against this law (and shortly thereafter voted against it!) quoted in literature FROM the National Rifle Association - "Montanans right now ENJOY the most Second Amendment friendly state laws in ANY of the United States and by virtue of that ranking then also IN THE WORLD" even without this new law!
She went on to state that this expansion of gun rights and her opposition to it would jeopardize her previous and present "B" and sometimes "A" ratings from the NRA!
A pro-legislation Republican member of the state legislature countered her hesitancy with the new bill by saying the last time the state legislature passed laws affirming the citizens right to keep and bear arms there were dire predictions - and in fact since then the opposite has occurred, including diminished crime rates, lower murder rate and etc!
There were tears in my eyes when the 50 Republicans and the 50 Democrats (coincidental split of this body by the way!) voted 58 to 42 for the bills passage! I even marveled at the even handed coverage of this news event as represented by the TV special!
In my previous life I seldon if ever saw any of that even handedness when it came to news coverage of proposed Second Amendment legislation!
I came from a city in which it was not unusual to have 5 bank robberies in a week!
Since I moved to this town (which has 5 banks and one credit union that I know of!) in SW Montana I have learned the last bank robbery here was 108 years ago!
And that "bank robber" was unsuccessful because his horse slipped on some ice at the beginning of his escape and the horse broke its leg!
The bank robber was taken into custody by a couple of armed citizens thereupon!
Back to the TV program - it went on and on about the citizens new and re-affirmed rights under this bill - I won't bore you with all the details, but will say this, if you like guns and you enjoy your gun rights then you should move to Montana!
And I am NOT saying that lightly - I know exactly how hard it was to uproot two school children aged 12 and 11 and take them to a strange state and a strange city and how big a step it was to bring along a city girl wife who had never lived anywhere but in Seattle, Washington herself, and I know what a huge step it is to move away from the bosom of ones family and friends and caring workmates!
But now after 11 full years I say this with even more conviction than I have in the past - moving to Montana was THE BEST DECISION I have ever made in my life!
Period!
SO take this advice or leave it - but I feel I must honestly express it to you all - pack up and move here to Montana!
You ONLY live ONCE!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
NRA Benefactor Life Member
