Preserve right to keep and bear arms via a presumption of innocence
HB 433 sought to protect an individual's right to keep and bear arms while awaiting trial. The bill proposed that a person could not be deprived of their Second Amendment or Montana constitutional firearm rights before a conviction. This protection would apply unless the individual was charged with a forcible felony or a crime of violence involving a weapon, as defined in statute 45-2-101. The bill aimed to preserve these rights during the pre-trial phase for most offenses.
Bill status
died
2 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Failed
Mar 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 7, 2025
Last action May 20, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
LC2524.pdf
→
HB0433_1.pdf
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was renumbered from LC 2524 to HB 433 and expanded from a single section to two sections. The substantive policy content remains unchanged, preserving the prohibition against depriving individuals of their right to keep and bear arms when charged with forcible felonies or crimes using a weapon. A new codification instruction was added to specify where the law should be placed in the Montana Code.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the bill number and formatting were modified.
TECHNICAL
Bill number changed from LC 2524 to HB 433, indicating it is now a House Bill rather than a Legislative Committee bill.
Added a second section providing codification instructions to integrate the law into Title 45, chapter 8, part 3 of the Montana Code.
Added multiple sponsors to the bill introduction, including G. Nikolakakos, M. Nikolakakos, C. Cochran, J. Kassmier, B. Ler, G. Oblander, B. Mitchell, and J. Hinkle.
Floor votes · House Mar 3, 2025
How they voted
13–86
Failed · 1 other
Total votes 100
Mar 3, 2025
D
Democratic42
100% Nay
R
Republican58
75% Nay
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
26
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Mar 3, 2025
Vote failed
House Vote: fail (13-86-1)
house
Feb 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Judiciary
lower
Feb 7, 2025
Introduced
(H) Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
George Nikolakakos
RRepublican
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