Why does Flathead County lead state in hidden weapons?
Dupont speculated that the large number of sportsmen in the Flathead who buy and sell guns might drive up the number of concealed weapons permits because of that provision.
By CHERY SABOL
The Daily Inter Lake
Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont doesn't know why residents here have a penchant for legal, concealed weapons.
According to The Associated Press, the greatest concentration of weapons permits in the state is in Flathead County, where 1,381 people are authorized to carry guns, knives, slingshots, razors and other hidden weapons.
That accounts for 10 percent of the permits issued across the entire state.
Missoula and Yellowstone counties have the second- and third-highest number of permits.
"I don't know why we have an abnormal amount," Dupont said.
County sheriffs are in charge of issuing permits following strict state regulations. Few permit requests are denied in Flathead County, Dupont said.
Applicants must be residents, at least 18 years old, and have not been found mentally ill or disabled, or dishonorably discharged form the armed forces. People do not qualify if they have been jailed for more than a year, are convicted of violent or sexual crimes, or have been convicted of being an unlawful user of intoxicating substances.
Any past violations of the concealed-weapon law also makes applicants ineligible.
There is a $50 application fee. Residents must have a Montana driver's license or ID card and proof of weapons training.
The sheriff reviews applicants' references, personal information and criminal history. A federal background check also enables gun buyers to purchase weapons without a waiting period.
Dupont speculated that the large number of sportsmen in the Flathead who buy and sell guns might drive up the number of concealed weapons permits because of that provision.
Most, but not all, of the permit holders in Flathead County are men, Dupont said.
A permit is needed for most people who want to conceal a weapon in a town. It's not necessary in the county, Dupont said.
That's one of the oddities of the law that was written in 1919 and has been updated a half-dozen times since then.
The law defines a concealed weapon as one that is wholly or partly covered by clothing or wearing apparel. A purse doesn't count as either.
According to state law, a weapon is defined as a "dirk, dagger, pistol, revolver, slingshot, sword cane, bill, knuckles made of any hard substance, knife with a blade 4 inches long or longer, razor (not including a safety razor), or other deadly weapon."
A bill? That's a medieval hook-shaped weapon with a spike at the back, mounted on a long staff.
Even a concealed bill is legal under the law for anyone outside a town or "the confines of a logging, lumbering, mining, or railroad camp" or who is legally hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, hiking, backpacking, farming or ranching.
People can carry concealed weapons on their own property or businesses and back and forth between the two, even if that's in town.
So, where isn't a concealed weapon legal outside of a town?
You can't carry a concealed weapon, even with a permit, in a federal, state, or local government office, in a bank or similar institution, or where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed. And you can't carry it while intoxicated.
But you can openly carry a gun into a bar outside city limits. Sit down, have a drink, slap your holstered Blackhawk on the bar and it's OK, as long as the business owner doesn't balk. There is no criminal code in Montana law books forbidding that.
Tuck it under your shirt, though, and you've committed a crime.
Gary Marbut, author of "Gun Laws of Montana" and a legislative candidate from Missoula, said he'd like to see that law changed so that concealed weapons are as legal in bars as unconcealed weapons. The restrictions on carrying a weapon while intoxicated, under either term, should remain, he said.
The law is clearly still flavored by its Old West recipe for lawfulness in Montana towns, Dupont said, and the majority of people who apply for permits comply with it.
How does the sheriff feel about the large number of people in his county with legally concealed weapons?
"It doesn't bother us," Dupont said.
Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com