A turncoat who left a decades-long career in the gun industry to work for an anti-gun group has announced he is running for Congress in the state of Montana, raising a red flag with the powerful National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
In his career, Ryan Busse spent 25 years working for a leading American firearm manufacturer, during which time the company produced more than 2.3 million rifles, pistols and revolvers. But as NSSF pointed out in a recent press item, after leaving, Busse took a high-dollar paid lobbying position with the national gun control group GIFFORDS Courage to Fight Gun Violence.
He subsequently became a mouthpiece for the organization, parlaying that role into television appearances and media opportunities ever since.
“Busse shopped around the state like he was flipping through the pages of the Fall men’s outdoor wear catalogue and chose Montana’s western First Congressional District to try and win a congressional seat,” NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane wrote in the news item. “He’s for now in a four-way Democratic primary, with the winner taking on incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke. The election is just over nine months away.”
In an interview with the Montana Free Press following his announcement, Busse said: “The Montana 1 district, in a year like 2026, this is the type of place where we’re going to decide what kind of country we are. The deep-blue districts and big cities, they’ll go blue. The deep-red districts and other places, they’ll go red. But this is a Trump plus-5 district in a year when the average political shift has been what, 13 to 18 points? We’re going to figure out who we are.”
As Busse and other Democrats ty to “figure out who we are,” NSSF knows exactly who Busse is and what he represents.
“He lost his gubernatorial bid to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte by nearly 20 percent after Montana voters roundly rejected his platform to lead the state, which included implementing strict gun control laws,” Keane wrote. “That includes a ban on AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles—highly popular in the Big Sky State among both men and women—that he gave full-throated support to in 2024.”
That’s a really tough position to sell to voters again in the state that has the highest percentage of gun owners per capita in the nation—especially considering that the Republican candidate, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, has an excellent record on Second Amendment issues.
“For his part, Rep. Zinke has been a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and firearm industry that provides for exercise of that Constitutional right,” Keane wrote. “Rep. Zinke earned an A+ in the 2024 NSSF Congressional Report Card, denoting his exceptional support and advocacy for legislation that supports the industry and the right to keep and bear arms. In that regard, Rep. Zinke and Busse are as far apart on Second Amendment issues as Montana is wide.”
Ultimately, Keane warned that a Busse victory over Rep. Zinke would be a disaster for gun owners in Big Sky Country.
“Should he be the Democratic candidate and hypothetically knock off a popular incumbent in Rep. Zinke, there’s little doubt a Busse would side with national gun control activists in many of the most consequential anti-Second Amendment proposals that would come out of Washington, D.C.,” Keane concluded. “He’s already cashed those groups’ checks and taken the donations and endorsements. When it comes to voting against the values of Montanans, Busse would be another rubber stamp.”
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