Letters to the editor Jan. 31

Executive orders

Sen. Daines:

You need to come up with a way to limit the power of President Biden to run the government with executive orders. If he continues to take all of the power of running the government away from Congress, as he is currently doing, you might as well close the doors to the Senate and the House of Representatives and go home.

This is why we have division of power into three segments as provided by the Constitution. President Biden is not smart enough to come up with these executive orders by himself. He is undoubtedly being heavily influenced by advisors that seem to be hell bent on taking complete control of the government.

It is your responsibility to represent us in Montana and to exert your influence to other members of Congress to see that our freedoms are not taken away by this incompetent idiot.

—James Malone, Kalispell

Act for wildlife now

In response to “Time To Get Involved In Legislative Issues” I couldn’t agree more, but for different reasons. The writer states, “Fish and wildlife resources belong to all of us.” True, they don’t just belong to hunters and trappers, which is the writer’s focus.

The writer claims “trapping is currently under legislative siege.” However, there are no bills to limit trapping. Instead, Republican Rep. Paul Fielder, spokesman for the Montana Trapping Association, is carrying a fistful of bills to expand trapping, including HB 138: An Act revising what constitutes trapping or snaring offense; revising tagging requirements; and amending section 87-6-601.

HB 138 makes it easier to trap on private property by removing the requirement for “written” permission. The trapper can simply claim he talked to someone on the ranch. The trapper’s phone number would no longer be required, making the trapper harder to find if livestock is injured. HB 138 also makes a conservation license optional. A conservation license is a legal requisite for all resident and non-resident licenses to hunt, fish and trap, and costs a mere $8.00. Why should trappers on private land be exempt?

These changes protect trappers from liability and culpability, with access to lands they have no right to be on.

A $29 trapping license allows a trapper to set unlimited traps, while hunters have strict limits. Most hunters dislike trapping, but trappers manipulate hunters to get their support with the lie that if trapping is banned, hunting will be next.

Wildlife belongs to all of us. We must act for wildlife now.

Carla Bonetti, Missoula

Oppose conceal carry bill

We are extremely concerned by the speed with which the House has rushed through HB102 (campus conceal carry), and encourage the Senate legislators to slow down and heed the concerns of the Montana University System.

Sponsor Rep. Berglee believes the 2nd Amendment supersedes all other considerations, but a 2008 a Supreme Court ruling establishing the rights of Washington, D.C. residents to possess firearms in their homes contained qualifications. Justice Scalia, writing for the majority, said that “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.”

He went on to say that nothing in the court’s decision “should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions … or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings…” Moreover, a legal review accompanying the bill notes that decisions specific to college campuses are constitutionally reserved to the Board of Regents.

Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education Kevin McCrae cites three reasons for their opposition to the bill: general safety, facility and crowd management, and student health and wellness. He provides statistics showing increased accidental shootings and misfirings on campuses allowing firearms, and emphasizes that campuses nationwide [without guns] are safe places.

This bill should be opposed.

—Caryl and Tom Cox, Polson

Getting ‘stuff’ done in the Senate

Montana Sen. Jon Tester recently made a cringe-worthy remark about abolishing the filibuster:

“Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and he should be treated like majority leader. We can get [expletive] done around here and we ought to be focused on getting stuff done,” Tester told Politico. “If we don’t, the inmates are going to be running this ship.”

The last time we had an evenly split Senate 20 years ago, both Democrats and Republicans honored the filibuster. It is an important aspect of minority rights on legislation.

“The very reason why we have the filibuster rule is so when one party, when one interest controls all the levers of government, one man or woman can stand on the floor of the Senate and resist, if need be, the passions of the moment,” said former Senator Joe Biden.

Let’s hope President Biden’s wisdom of the past will prevail instead of Sen. Tester’s misguided attitude.

—Carolanne Wright, Whitefish