Vermont Business Magazine While the balcony in the State House has frequently been a sea of blaze orange as gun rights supporters oppose measures to limit gun ownership, a group of Vermont gun owners held a press conference Thursday to advocate for the passage of the gun violence prevention bills currently before the Vermont Legislature. The gun owners, from around Vermont, gathered at the State House to let elected officials know that they support what they call the common sense gun safety measures being debated.
Tom Galinat a gun owner, farmer and town clerk from Peacham, Vermont said in a statement: “We are here today to tell Vermonters and our elected officials that the gun lobby does not speak for all gun owners. We support all of the common sense gun safety measures before the legislature.”
The gun owners thanked the legislators that voted for expanded background checks and a ban on high capacity magazines and spoke in favor of all three of the gun violence prevention bills, including the background check, extreme risk protection and domestic violence bills.
The bill, S55, started more modestly in the Senate, then passed the House on Wednesday, which added a bump stock ban and ammunition magazine limit. It's now back in the Senate. Governor Scott has generally supported stricter gun laws.
Main points of the bill include:
- Expanding background check requirements to unlicensed (or private) firearm sales, including a provision that provides immunity to Federal Firearm Licensees that provide background check services in unlicensed (private) sales;
- Requiring purchasers of long guns to be 21 years or older, unless they have taken a hunter safety course (which is already required to obtain a hunting license), are a veteran, are a law enforcement official, or are in the military. This puts long guns on par with handguns. Under federal law one must be at least 21 to purchase handguns.
- Banning the purchase and possession of bump stocks effectiveOctober 1, 2018; and
- Banning the purchase of high-capacity magazines while excluding antiques, replicas and long guns with lever or bolt action. Possession of high-capacity magazines that were purchased before the enactment date is grandfathered.
“I use guns for shooting varmints around my property and killing livestock that we raise to eat, said R.D. Eno, a gun owner from Cabot. “But the purpose of a gun is to kill, and there are those who would use these lethal machines to do harm to spouses, innocent people in shopping malls and to kill our children in their schools. There is nothing in this legislation that in any way infringes on the right of any law-abiding, responsible citizen to own firearms. It just makes common sense that we take the steps in the current legislation to prevent guns from falling into the hands of those who present a clear and present danger to public safety and those who would misuse them.”
The gun owners were among the more than 60 Vermont gun owners that signed onto a letter to lawmakers last week in favor of expanded background check legislation. The text of that letter that was delivered last week to House Members is below.
LETTER
Dear legislators,
We are writing you today as Vermont gun owners in support of expanded background checks.
We all own guns for different reasons: hunting, personal protection, sport, etc. We are all supporters of the second amendment. And we all support the passage of expanded background checks. Passing expanded background checks will help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously ill and will save lives.
Currently, gun sales are treated differently depending on where a gun is bought in Vermont. A person who buys a gun through a federally licensed gun shop is required to pass a background check, while a person who buys a gun from an unlicensed seller online, on sites like armslist, at a flea market, or at a gun show is not required to pass a background check. This means that our current system allows criminals and the dangerously ill to legally purchase guns in Vermont.
Studies have shown that background checks saves lives. In states that require background checks for all handgun sales gun deaths have dropped significantly. From 2009 to 2012, states that required background checks on all handgun sales or permits had 35% fewer gun deaths per capita than states without that background check requirement[1]. Researchers have also found that, after adjusting for population, states that require background checks on all handgun sales experience less than half as many mass shooting incidents (52%)[2], 48% less gun trafficking, 47% fewer deaths of women shot by intimate partners, there are 53% fewer firearm suicides[3], and 53%[4] fewer law enforcement officers are shot to death than states without universal background checks.
Passing background check legislation is a common sense measure to help keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals and those who are dangerously ill. As law abiding gun owners in Vermont we urge you to help keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them.
Sincerely,
Robert Bristow, gun owner, Shelburne, Vermont
Robert Bartell, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Dan Mulligan, gun owner, Shelburne, Vermont
Zach Hunter, gun owner, Montpelier, Vermont
Tyler Smith, gun owner, Barnet, Vermont
Tim Scott, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Silas Ratico, gun owner, Danville, Vermont
Bruce MacLean, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Jesse Holden, gun owner, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Danny Scott, gun owner, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Sean Prentiss, gun owner, Woodbury, Vermont
Tom Fox, gun owner, South Wheelock, Vermont
Nathaniel Emmons, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Bob Clark, gun owner, Berlin, Vermont
Tom Galinat, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Jan Fraga, gun owner, Lincoln, Vermont
Jud Lawrie, gun owner, Essex Junction, Vermont
Ed Maryrose Anthes, gun owner, West Dummerston, Vermont
Hale Irwin, gun owner, Middlesex, Vermont
George Kempton, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Bill Badger, gun owner, East Barnard, Vermont
Bruce Richards, gun owner, Newbury, Vermont
Bobby Porter, gun owner, Cambridge, Vermont
Dana Grossman, gun owner, East Thetford, Vermont
Dan Grossman, gun owner, East Thetford, Vermont
John Lyons, gun owner, Norwich, Vermont
Ron Ulmer, gun owner, Ferrisburgh, Vermont
Elaine Boudah, gun owner, Colchester, Vermont
Barry Cahoon, gun owner, Danville, Vermont
David Magnus, gun owner, Peacham, Vermont
Gary Miller, gun owner, Montpelier, Vermont
Janet Van Fleet, gun owner, Cabot, Vermont
R. D. Eno, gun owner, Cabot, Vermont
George Burrill, gun owner, Shelburne, Vermont
Tara Bamford, gun owner, Thetford, Vermont
Luke McCullock, gun owner, Bellows Falls, Vermont
William Scavone, gun owner, Norwich, Vermont
David Batchedler, gun owner, Barre Town, Vermont
Tom Prunier, gun owner, Westminster, Vermont
Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin, gun owner, Westminster, Vermont
Steve Barkyoumb, gun owner, Burlington, Vermont
Thomas Chittenden, gun owner, South Burlington, Vermont
William Scavone, gun owner, Norwich, Vermont
James Ball, gun owner, Springfield, Vermont
Robert McLeish, gun owner, Manchester Center, Vermont
Markus Bradley, gun owner, Vershire, Vermont
Greg Renner, gun owner, Topsham, Vermont
Martin Smit, gun owner, Newbury, Vermont
Timo Bradley, gun owner, Montpelier, Vermont
Jackton Downard, gun owner, Norwich, Vermont
Brian Emerson, gun owner, Wells River, Vermont
Louise Coates, gun owner, Barre Town, Vermont
Sydney Lea, gun owner, Newbury, Vermont
Miles Chapin, gun owner, Westminster, Vermont
Mary MacEwan, gun owner, Essex Town, Vermont
Evan MacEwan, gun owner, Essex Town, Vermont
Charles Ogg, gun owner, Chittenden, Vermont
Kevin McCollister, gun owner, East Montpelier, Vermont
Jon Ratti, gun owner, Springfield, Vermont
Stan Cichanowski, gun owner, Vermont
Jason Nerenberg, gun owner Jericho
[1] Based on data from the Nat’l Ctr. for Injury Prevention & Control, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Web-Based Injury Statistics Query & Reporting System (WISQARS), Fatal Injury Reports, 1999-2014, for National, Regional, and States (accessed on Jun. 2, 2015), at http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal_injury_reports.html. The 15 states with the background check law over this period had a firearm fatality rate of 7.98 per 100,000 residents, while the other 35 states had a firearm fatality rate of 12.23 per 100,000.⤴︎
[2] See Everytown for Gun Safety,Mass Shootings Analysis, Appendix 1 (Aug. 20, 2015), available at http://everytownresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/MassShootingsBackgroundChecks-Appendix-1.pdf.⤴︎
[3] [3] (Michael, D. Anestis, et al, “Suicide Rates and State Laws Regulating Access and Exposure to Handguns,” American Journal of Public Health 105, no. 10 (2015): e1-e10)
[4] See Everytown for Gun Safety,Mass Shootings Analysis, Appendix 1 (Aug. 20, 2015), available at http://everytownresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/MassShootingsBackgroundChecks-Appendix-1.pdf.⤴
Source: Leonine Public Affairs. 3.30.2018