Montana

Montana Permit Eligibility

An applicant for a Montana (standard) Concealed Weapon Permit must:

1. be a United States citizen or permanent lawful resident
2. be 18 years of age
3. hold a valid Montana driver's license or other form of identification issued by the state that has a picture of the person identified
4. have been a resident of the state for at least 6 months

An applicant for a Montana Enhanced Concealed Weapon Permit must:

1. be a United States citizen or permanent lawful resident
2. be 18 years of age or older for a Temporary Restricted Enhanced Permit or 21 years of age or older for an Enhanced Permit
3. hold a valid Montana driver's license or other form of identification issued by the state that has a picture of the person identified
4. have been a resident of the state for at least 6 months

Mont. Code § 45-8-321 (1)

Enhanced Permit Requirements

To obtain an optional enhanced permit to carry a concealed weapon, an applicant shall submit an application to the sheriff of the county in which the applicant resides. The permit is valid for 5 years from the date of issuance.

An application for an enhanced permit must include:

1. a copy of the applicant's fingerprints for submission to the federal bureau of investigation, or to any government agency or entity authorized to receive the information, for a state, national, and international criminal background check;
2. an authorization from the applicant to run a fingerprint background check;
3. and proof that the applicant:
   (i) has successfully completed a qualifying handgun course, as defined in subsection (5), within the preceding 12 months; or
   (ii) is a current or former law enforcement officer and has, within the preceding 12 months, qualified or requalified on a certified shooting course administered by a firearms instructor approved by a law enforcement agency.

A qualifying handgun course is any handgun course approved by a law enforcement agency that includes instruction in each of the following:

1. laws relating to firearms and the use of force;
2. the basic concepts of the safe and responsible use of handguns;
3. self-defense principles; and
4. live fire training, including the firing of at least 98 rounds of ammunition by the student.

Mont. Code § 45-8-312

Montana Permit Application Process

Applicants must apply in person at the County Sheriff’s Office and provide proof of firearm familiarity. The fee for issuance of a permit is $50.

The sheriff shall conduct a background check of an applicant to determine whether the applicant is eligible for a permit, may require an applicant to submit the applicant's fingerprints, and may charge the applicant $5 for fingerprinting. A renewal does not require repeat fingerprinting.

A county sheriff shall, within 60 days after the filing of an application, issue a permit to carry a concealed weapon to the applicant.

The permit is valid for a period of 4 years and the renewal fee is $25.

Mont. Code § 45-8-321 and Mont. Code § 45-8-322

Montana Permitless Carry Law

On 02/18/21, Montana Governor, Greg Gianforte, signed a permitless carry bill into law. This law, which takes effect immediately, makes it legal to carry a firearm in most places in the state without a license. The new law expands the places where Montanans can carry a firearm without a permit.

The law:

1. A person who carries or bears concealed upon the individual's person a firearm shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding 6 months, or both.
2. A person who has previously been convicted of an offense, committed on a different occasion than the offense under this section, in this state or any other jurisdiction for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of 1 year could have been imposed and who carries or bears concealed upon the individual's person a firearm shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or be imprisoned in the state prison for a period not exceeding 5 years, or both.
3. This section does not apply to a person eligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law.

A county, city, town, consolidated local government, or other local government unit has power to prevent and suppress the carrying of unpermitted concealed weapons or the carrying of unconcealed weapons to a publicly owned and occupied building under its jurisdiction. (Mont. Code Ann. § 45-8-351)

Mont. Code § 45-8-316

Montana Preemption Law

Montana has a preemption law. Generally, only the state may make or change firearm regulations.

The law:

1. Except as provided in subsection (2), a county, city, town, consolidated local government, or other local government unit may not prohibit, register, tax, license, or regulate the purchase, sale or other transfer (including delay in purchase, sale, or other transfer), ownership, possession, transportation, use, or unconcealed carrying of any weapon, including a rifle, shotgun, handgun, or concealed handgun.
2. -
   a. For public safety purposes, a city or town may regulate the discharge of rifles, shotguns, and handguns. A county, city, town, consolidated local government, or other local government unit has power to prevent and suppress the carrying of unpermitted concealed weapons or the carrying of unconcealed weapons to a publicly owned and occupied building under its jurisdiction.
   b. Nothing contained in this section allows any government to prohibit the legitimate display of firearms at shows or other public occasions by collectors and others or to prohibit the legitimate transportation of firearms through any jurisdiction, whether in airports or otherwise.

Mont. Code § 45-8-351

Montana Private-Party Transfers

Montana allows private-party firearm transfers. However, federal law still applies. Therefore, it is unlawful to sell or give a firearm to anyone who:

1. You know is under the age of 18
2. You know is prohibited from owning a firearm under state/federal law
3. Resides in a state other than Montana

Montana has no laws restricting the ammunition capacity of magazines.

Montana Prohibited Areas

Places where firearms may be prohibited in Montana (for permit holders):

1. 1. in a correctional, detention, or treatment facility operated by or contracted with the department of corrections or a secure treatment facility operated by the department of public health and human services;
   2. in a detention facility or secure area of a law enforcement facility owned and operated by a city or county;
   3. at or beyond a security screening checkpoint regulated by the transportation security administration in a publicly owned, commercial airport;
   4. in a building owned and occupied by the United States;
   5. on a military reservation owned and managed by the United States;
   6. on private property where the owner of the property or the person who possesses or is in control of the property, including a tenant or lessee of the property, expressly prohibits firearms;
   7. within a courtroom or an area of a courthouse in use by court personnel pursuant to an order of a justice of the peace or judge; or
   8. in a school building as determined by a school board pursuant to 45-8-361.
   9. Certain Montana University System campuses and locations. (Bd. of Regents of Higher Educ. v. State by & through Knudsen, 2022 MT 128, 409 Mont. 96, 512 P.3d 748)

Mont. Code § 45-8-356

Montana Open Carry Law

Montana has always been an open carry state. However, in 2009, the legislature took it a step further by enacting HB0228 which clarified that any person who is not otherwise prohibited from doing so by federal or state law may openly carry a weapon without a permit.

The law:

1. Any person who is not otherwise prohibited from doing so by federal or state law may openly carry a weapon and may communicate to another person the fact that the person has a weapon.
2. If a person reasonably believes that the person or another person is threatened with bodily harm, the person may warn or threaten the use of force, including deadly force, against the aggressor, including drawing or presenting a weapon.

Mont. Code § 45-3-111

In Montana, no-weapons signs do not have the force of law.

A person commits the offense of carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence if the person purposely or knowingly carries a concealed weapon while under the influence of an intoxicating substance. It is not a defense that the person had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon. A person convicted of the offense shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 6 months or be fined an amount not to exceed $500, or both.

Mont. Code § 45-8-327

Montana law does not address the issue of transporting a firearm in a vehicle.

Montana does not have any laws specifically related to how firearms must be stored.

Montana has no known duty-to-inform laws, which means you are under no legal obligation to affirmatively inform an officer of the presence of your firearm, and may not be under a legal obligation to respond if asked by the officer. As with any interaction with law enforcement, we encourage you to be respectful and courteous, while also preserving your constitutionally-protected privacy rights.

Non-Residents Must Carry Permit:

A concealed weapon permit from another state is valid in this state if:

1. the person issued the permit has the permit in the person's immediate possession;
2. the person bearing the permit is also in possession of an official photo identification of the person, whether on the permit or on other identification; and
3. the state that issued the permit requires a criminal records background check of permit applicants prior to issuance of a permit.

   (Mont. Code Ann. § 45-8-329)

Montana does not have Emergency Risk Orders ("Red Flag Laws).

Montana Force in Defense of Person

A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary for self-defense or the defense of another against the other person's imminent use of unlawful force. However, the person is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to the person or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Mont. Code § 45-3-102

Montana does not have a law specific to the defense of others, but does allow for the defense of a third person in its defense-of-person law.

Montana “Castle Doctrine”

1. A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the use of force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person's unlawful entry into or attack upon an occupied structure.
2. A person justified in the use of force pursuant to subsection (1) is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if:
   1. the entry is made or attempted and the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent an assault upon the person or another then in the occupied structure; or
   2. the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony in the occupied structure.

Mont. Code § 45-3-103

Montana Defense of Property

A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person's trespass on or other tortious or criminal interference with either real property, other than an occupied structure, or personal property lawfully in the person's possession or in the possession of another who is a member of the person's immediate family or household or of a person whose property the person has a legal duty to protect. However, the person is justified in the use of force likely to cause death or serious bodily harm only if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Mont. Code § 45-3-104

Montana Civil Immunity

1. A use of force allowable under the provisions of Title 45, chapter 3, part 1, provides immunity to the person using the force from civil damages for injury to any person or property arising from injury to the person, or damage to the property of the person, against whom the force was used.
2. Conviction of a crime committed by the person who was injured or whose property was damaged by the use of force is not a prerequisite to a defense under subsection (1), but it is evidence that the act or omission to which the use of force was a response occurred.
3. The reasonableness of the use of force must be determined in light of the circumstances at the time that the force was used.
4. The prevailing party in an action in which a defense is asserted under this section is entitled to costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Mont. Code § 27-1-722

Montana Stand-Your-Ground Law

Except as provided in 45-3-105, a person who is lawfully in a place or location and who is threatened with bodily injury or loss of life has no duty to retreat from a threat or summon law enforcement assistance prior to using force. The provisions of this section apply to a person offering evidence of justifiable use of force.

Mont. Code § 45-3-110

Justification is not available to a person who:

1. is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of a forcible felony;
2. or purposely or knowingly provokes the use of force against the person, unless:
   1. the force is so great that the person reasonably believes that the person is in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm and that the person has exhausted every reasonable means to escape the danger other than the use of force that is likely to cause death or serious bodily harm to the assailant; or
   2. in good faith, the person withdraws from physical contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that the person desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.

Mont. Code § 45-3-105

Lawful taking to protect livestock or person

(1) A person may kill or attempt to kill a wolf or mountain lion that is in the act of attacking or killing a domestic dog.

(2) A person who, under this section, takes wildlife protected by this title shall notify the department within 72 hours and shall surrender or arrange to surrender the wildlife to the department.

(3) In accordance with the rights conferred on Montana citizens pursuant to Article II, sections 3 and 12, of the Montana constitution, the legislature finds the act of a grizzly bear attacking or killing a person is an absolute defense against a person who takes a grizzly bear in accordance with this section being charged with a crime under Montana law. Grizzly bears threatening, attacking, or killing livestock may only be taken as provided in 87-5-301

(4) When a grizzly bear poses a threat to a person through consistent presence or proximity to people or inhabited dwellings, the person may contact the department. If, on investigation, the department finds the grizzly bear is a threat, the department may control, trap, or remove the grizzly bear or issue a permit to the person to kill the grizzly bear to mitigate the threat to human safety.

(5) As used in this section, "livestock" means cattle, swine, horses, mules, sheep, goats, llamas, donkeys, and livestock guard dogs.

Mont. Code § 87-6-106