Indian lawmakers in Montana help defeat state gun measure

Wednesday, February 6, 2013  

The Montana House voted 61-39 against naming the Winchester as the state's official rifle after Indian lawmakers objected.

Rep. Edward Greef (R) sponsored the bill. He said tribal warriors used the Winchester Model 1873 during the Battle of Little Bighhorn but Indian lawmakers said the gun symbolized something more negative.

"For me this is not so much in the past," Rep. Carolyn Pease-Lopez (D) said on the House floor, the Associated Press reported. "I must rise in opposition of celebrating such a weapon as this that brought devastation to my people."

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Montana lawmakers reject Winchester as state rifle (AP 2/5)