In The News

Missoula’s proposed gun ordinance restricting sales hit a possible snag Thursday. The state’s attorney general thinks it’s unconstitutional. The ordinance aims to require background checks for all private gun sales.  There are a few exceptions — antique firearms, guns sold within a family and for temporary use while hunting. People will have to meet with a federally licensed dealer for the background check and to finalize the deal. Sen. Steve Daines, Rep. Ryan Zinke and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox are three of the top Republican officials putting pressure on the Missoula City Council over the ordinance. “Contrary to the

With laptops and tablets for all elementary students and the support of local Internet providers, the students at Fairfield Elementary School are fairing pretty well when it comes to Internet accessibility. But as Federal Communications Chairman Tom Wheeler, Montana’s senators, school officials and providers discussed Tuesday, only 49 percent of Montana’s public schools have access to high-speed Internet. “Fairfield was a school that was an early adopter (of technology) and worked diligently,” said Kirk Miller, executive director of School Administrators of Montana. “That isn’t the case with much of the rest of Montana.” According to a report given to the Montana

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Local tech entrepreneur-turned-politician U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, meeting with the local business community at the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce on Friday, said he agreed with concerns raised by several people about the need for reform in the U.S. Patent system. “There’s this kind of arms race where you have to develop a patent portfolio to protect yourself from the other big guys who have patent portfolios,” said Bob Wall, a former engineer with RightNow and Oracle, now with startup IronCore labs. “This world of patent trolls, and people making their living on that, it is stifling innovation to some extent,”

The United States is the only country that has a ban on exporting crude oil. This Friday the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill that seeks to lift the ban on exporting U.S. crude oil. It’s a cold war era ban that was originally put in place during oil shortages in the 1970s. Congressman Ryan Zinke is co-sponsoring H.R. 702, and today he held a press conference to discuss the future of Montana’s energy economy. Zinke said lifting the ban would create more than 2,400 new jobs, and generate $120 million in economic growth in Montana alone.

Montana grain growers have an important new assurance that they can get their product to market, thanks to the Agricultural Reauthorization Act signed by President Barack Obama on Oct. 1. Included in the legislation is a provision requiring the USDA to continue grain export inspection if state inspectors are not on the job. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., championed this change in the Grain Standards Reauthorization Act to keep grain moving to export. The Senate bill was introduced by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. As previously reported by The Gazette, grain inspectors employed by Washington state stopped work for five weeks in

Senator Steve Daines today announced that he will be bringing the American Folklife Center’s Veterans History Project (VHP) to Montana to collect and preserve the stories of Montana’s wartime veterans in the Library of Congress.  Montana veterans who served in the United States military during wartime in any capacity from World War I through the present and are no longer serving, as well as civilians who served in support of a U.S. war effort in a professional capacity, are eligible to participate. “The Veterans History Project’s mission is to collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of American wartime

Senator Steve Daines took to the Senate floor today to call on the Senate to swiftly pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes critical support for Montana’s military missions. Daines also called on Senate Democrats to stop blocking the Department of Defense Appropriations Act and fund the military.

Republican senators repeatedly pushed the secretary of Energy Tuesday to support lifting the ban on oil exports and explain why President Obama does not agree. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told the lawmakers at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that oil exports are not within his purview, but nonetheless defended Obama’s opposition to the bills in both chambers to lift the ban.  “Do you agree that U.S. crude oil exports would benefit the energy security of our allies and trading partners?” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) asked. “Does the Obama administration oppose all legislative efforts to repeal this crude