MISSOULA (AP) – Montana’s attorney general will issue a legal opinion on a Missoula ordinance requiring background checks for private gun sales.
Montana Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes tells the Missoulian that the office received a formal request for an opinion on the measure from Austin Knudsen, Speaker of the Montana House of Representatives.
The Missoula ordinance takes effect in late October and will require the background checks for most private gun sales or trades.
Attorney General Tim Fox has three months to issue his legal opinion. It will have the force of law unless overruled by a state district court of the Montana Supreme Court.
Knudsen, a Republican, says Missoula’s new ordinance is in direct violation of state law as well as sections of the Montana and U.S. constitutions.
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