Effective Date: 7/13/2025 | Contact: admin@montanaguntrader.com | https://montanaguntrader.com/law-enforcement-guidelines/
1. Purpose
Montana Gun Trader is a private, member-verified online platform built for Montanans to buy, sell, trade, and discuss firearms lawfully and responsibly. We respect both the Second Amendment and the rule of law, and we cooperate with legitimate law enforcement requests that follow proper legal channels.
2. Point of Contact
All law enforcement requests must be sent from official law enforcement email addresses to: admin@montanaguntrader.com
Mail: Will provide mailing address by email
Initial contact Mon-Fri 8-5 and emergency contact (24/7): Montana – four 0 six – 4 six 1 – four 7 three 5
Requests must include:
Name and badge number of the requesting officer.
Name and telephone number of requesting officers supervisor
Official agency contact information
The specific legal authority for the request (e.g., subpoena, warrant)
A USB drive to store and return collected data
A self addressed FedEx envelope to return collected data.
3. Legal Process Requirements
Montana Gun Trader requires valid legal process for any data disclosure:
We are a Montana-based platform and follow U.S. federal and state law.
4. Emergency Situations
For cases involving imminent risk of death or serious injury, we will consider disclosing limited user data without a warrant, as allowed by law.
Emergency requests must:
Be signed by a verified law enforcement officer
Describe the emergency clearly
Identify the individual at risk
Include a callback number for verification
5. Data We Collect
We retain minimal data, including:
User-submitted registration info found on registration page. (name, email, telephone, IP at signup)
Last login activity logs (rotated and retained for a limited period)
Public posts, comments, and listings
Any private messages (if hosted on-platform)
Expired ads for a period of 90 days unless deleted by member. Members can delete their accounts and ads at anytime. Backups include data for 15 days.
We do not monitor or store conversations unless explicitly hosted on our servers and not removed by the member by leaving conversations.
6. Retention and Preservation
Data is automatically rotated and deleted in accordance with our privacy practices unless we receive a valid preservation request under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(f). Preservation holds data for up to 90 days, extendable by court order. Accounts must be banned to preserve data. If member deletes account, all data is lost unless done so within 15 day backup processes. All backups are deleted after 15 days to preserve disc space.
7. User Notification
Unless legally prohibited (e.g., gag order), Montana Gun Trader may notify users of requests for their data before disclosure, giving them a chance to legally challenge the request.
8. Platform Use by Law Enforcement
We welcome transparent participation from law enforcement personally and professionally but prohibit:
Impersonation or covert accounts without proper legal cause
Entrapment or baiting tactics
Use of Montana Gun Trader to violate state or federal firearms law
All users including law enforcement must follow our site terms and agree to Montana-residents-only access.
9. Transparency Reporting
To promote trust and constitutional transparency, Montana Gun Trader may publish law enforcement request summaries, including:
Total number of requests
Request types
Disclosure rates
We do not publish user-specific info.
10. Our Commitment
Montana Gun Trader is committed to:
Lawful cooperation with law enforcement
Protection of users’ privacy and constitutional rights
Safe, in-state firearms transactions among verified Montanans
Note: user level access to law enforcement OUTSIDE of Montana is possible and may even be necessary. Please register using an official government email address and specify yourself in the new profile bio. Contact admin at address above or by telephone above for more.