The case is being prosecuted against Gabriel Metcalf, 49-years-old. To sum up the case to present, Gabriel came to Billings about a decade ago to help his mother at a difficult time in her life. She needed a new roof on her house, because she had befriended a drug addict who took advantage of her. Gabriel is skilled in the construction trades. He was the child who answered his mother’s call, put on a new roof, and stayed to help his mother, Vivian.
A new neighbor rented the basement of the house next door, and became a serious threat. Vivian and Gabriel had an order of protection filed against the neighbor, who was eventually convicted of assault on Gabriel, violating the order of protection, and telephonic threats against another person. The neighbor is facing felony charges in a trial to start in January, 2024. The Billings police were of minimal help in this matter.
Gabriel felt compelled to protect himself and his mother. As the police had told them they would only prosecute violations of the protective order if he had video evidence, he took to sitting in his front yard with a single-shot 20 gauge shotgun and his phone, to provide deterrence and to capture evidence. Gabriel and his mother live across the street from an elementary school. The school was not in session.
Some people complained about Gabriel possessing a gun across the street from the school. The police contacted Gabriel. They said Gabriel was not violent, had not threatened anyone, and had no criminal record. A local leftist paper, the Billings Gazette, publicized the case, and made remarks that the police could do nothing. The Billings police said they might be able to get their friends in the federal government to help.
Gabriel and Vivian contacted the FBI for assistance. They believed the FBI could “police the local police”. Instead, a Billings Police officer, working on a joint ATF/Billings police task force, contacted Gabriel and Vivian.
The task force obtained a warrant for violations of the Federal Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA). Gabriel believed the GFSZA had been found to be unconstitutional. It had been found unconstitutional in 1995, but President Clinton and Janet Reno had pushed through a twelve word change to the law which they claimed satisfied the constitutional defect. To date, 5 Appellate courts have upheld the law, three have stated the law remains unconstitutional. No challenge has yet to cite the Bruen decision.
Gabriel had stored the shotgun days before school was started. The ATF/Billings police Task Force arrested him for violating the GFSZA. They claimed Gabriel had walked on the sidewalk near his house and in the alley behind his house, with the shotgun. Those areas are inside the federal GFSZ.
Gabriel spent a month in jail without bail, before his federal defender, Russel Hart, was able to have the court review his detention hearing. Hart was able to show the judge the prosecution had misled the court, that Gabriel did not have mental problems, and there was a serious threat to Gabriel and his mother.
Just before Gabriel was about to be released, the City of Billings found a three year old warrant for the arrest of Gabriel. This was a surprise, as the Billings police had repeatedly said they had no authority to arrest Gabriel, and he had a clean record. The prosecution demanded Gabriel be encumbered with a GPS ankle bracelet as a condition of his release on the local charge. The monetary charge for the GPS bracelet was about $10 a day.
It would be 56 days before the public defender assigned to Gabriel by the City of Billings was able to obtain a hearing and have the ankle bracelet requirement removed. The bill for the bracelet “services” was over $500. The removal occurred about two weeks ago.
In the federal case, briefs have been filed. Russell Hart is making the case Gabriel is exempt from the GFSZA under Montana law, and the GFSZA is unconstitutional under Bruen. It is game on. The Federal court trial has been moved from January 16, 2023 to March 25, 2024.
It is likely all the important findings will have been determined before a trial ever takes place. If Judge Susan P. Waters finds for or against Gabriel Metcalf on the Montana statute or the constitutionality under Bruen, this correspondent expects the case to be appealed to a Ninth Circuit three judge panel. Depending on the three judge panel findings, this correspondent expects the case to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit en banc or to the Supreme Court. It may be years before the case is resolved.
The Metcalf Montana case is the best challenge to the federal GFSZA this correspondent has ever seen. Metcalf has a clean record. He was exercising his Second Amendment rights in response to a clear threat. He lives in a GFSZ.
The legal, mental, and life challenging events which come with challenging the local authorities and the Biden administration are considerable. Gabriel’s mother, Vivian, has set up a GiveSendGo account to aid in defense of their home and Gabriel’s freedom.
Vivian updates events in the case from time to time.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
