Finding a rental can be pretty tough in Montana. It’s a seller’s market. I’ve seen several instances on social media where people say that their lease agreement does not allow them to possess firearms.

With the usual caveat that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice but just some bloggers musings, let’s take a look at MCA 70-24-110:

Landlords and tenants — no firearm prohibition allowed. A landlord or operator of a hotel or motel may not, by contract or otherwise, prevent a tenant or a guest of a tenant from possessing on the premises a firearm that it is legal for the tenant or guest to possess. A landlord or operator of a hotel or motel may prohibit the discharge of a firearm on the premises except in self-defense.

Even if the prohibition on firearms is written into your lease agreement, you may possess firearms on the premises. A contract that is contrary to public policy is unenforceable:

Contracts can be found unenforceable on grounds of public policy not only to protect one of the parties involved, but also because what the contract represents could pose harm to society as a whole. For example, a court will never enforce a contract promoting something already against state or federal law (you can never enforce a contract for an illegal marijuana sale) or an agreement that offends the “public sensibilities” (contracts involving some sort of sexual immorality, for example). Other examples of contracts (or contracts clauses) that are against public policy and therefore unenforceable include:

• an employer forcing an employee to sign a contract that forbids workers from joining a union
• an employer forcing an employee to sign a contract forbidding medical leave
• a landlord forcing a tenant to sign a contract forbidding medically necessary companion animals such as seeing eye dogs, and
• contracts for child custody are invalid in California if their terms are not in line with the child’s best interest.

The same is true for hotels, motels, and short term vacation rentals such as AirBnb and Vrbo. AirBNB has weapons rules, and some hosts think they can have whatever gun policy they desire.

Vrbo’s official policy on guns is that a host can have their own gun policy. Their terms include:

If you’re planning to bring a weapon during your stay (for example, on a hunting trip), contact the host to ask about their Weapons Policy. If you bring a weapon onto a property in violation of the Weapons Policy, the host can cancel your booking without penalty.

Kind of makes me want to rent a Vrbo or AirBnB property in MT that has a published illegal policy and show up with an M4 slung, but I just don’t need the hassle.

I couldn’t find any national hotels with a no-guns policy in Montana, but that makes sense because they’d be forgoing revenue from hunters, and that’s a huge part of the business here.

Last summer my wife called a hotel in Wyoming to inquire as to their gun policy, and whether they allowed guests to carry a gun on their premises. Their response was “Not only yes, but we encourage it!”