by Morgan True vtdigger.org Gun Owners of Vermont President Ed Cutler thinks there are already too many gun laws in Vermont, and he strongly opposes background check legislation introduced in the Senate last week. The overarching issue for Cutler and many gun rights’ proponents, who gathered at the Statehouse on Tuesday wearing blaze orange clothing, is that they view any new gun law as a step toward criminalizing lawful gun ownership.
Vermont has among the most liberal gun laws in the country, according to the Law Center for Prevention of Gun Violence. The state does not require a permit for carrying a concealed gun, and does not impose a waiting period for purchases, limit the number of guns that can be bought at one time, require the reporting of mental health commitments, or require dealers to obtain a state license.
Senate Pro Tempore John Campbell, D-Windsor, the bill’s primary sponsor, sat with Cutler and several others in the cafeteria for a meet-and-greet organized by the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.
Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, speaks with Sen. John Campbell in the Statehouse cafeteria Tuesday. Photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
Campbell told Cutler his bill, S.31, would require universal background checks for private gun purchases. The legislation would also make it illegal in Vermont for a convicted violent offender to own a gun. It’s a federal crime for violent offenders to possess firearms, but without a mirror state law on the books, law enforcement officials in Vermont have said they can’t enforce the federal law. Finally, the bill would require the courts to report findings of incompetence and civil commitment to the FBI’s background check database.
Campbell doesn’t have a broader gun agenda, the senator told Cutler.
“Senator Campbell could be telling the truth. He probably is,” Cutler said, “But last year we had (former Rep.) Linda Waite-Simpson trying to ban a whole bunch of things … Gun Sense (Vermont) and Moms Demand Action (for Gun Sense in America) were behind those bills 100 percent. They may be saying they’re not doing that now, and they don’t want that, but they wanted it last year.”
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Libertarian Party Opposes Expanding Checks The Vermont Libertarian Party opposes expanding background checks for gun sales in Vermont. Vermont firearm dealers currently conduct background checks on each person purchasing a firearm both in-store and at gun shows. Expanding the background check law will have no effect on stopping criminal purchases, because criminals don’t obey laws. The effect of expanded background checks by the State of Vermont means unreasonable restrictions placed on Vermonters’ freedom and liberty. It’s not unreasonable to be afraid that we’ll end up with a poorly-crafted law like Washington State’s I-594, where a parent can’t even use their own gun to teach their child proper gun safety and gun use on their private property without committing a felony. According to 2013 ATF and FBI crime statistics, violent crime in Vermont is among the very lowest in the nation, even though Vermont has one of the highest firearm ownership rates in the nation. The ATF and FBI crime statistics tracing firearms used in violent crimes back to their originating state of purchase show that Vermont is not a major originator of criminal firearms used in crimes occurring in other states, despite what some groups entering this debate might claim. The Vermont Libertarian Party supports common-sense policy reform to reduce violent crime. We believe it is in the best interest of second amendment supporters whose rights are under attack and anti-gun advocacy groups concerned with public safely, to support ending prohibition, dispute the resolution related to the now-illegal market in drugs which can be settled peacefully in public courts and not violently on the streets or in homes. Prohibition creates violence. Laws prohibiting unpopular forms of voluntary trade do not cease that trade. They drive it underground, attract more violence, and encourage more potent concentrations of the product to make it easier to smuggle. A black market for drugs fuels a demand for black market firearms used to settle disputes violently, because no civil authority effectively regulates prohibited commerce, and civil courts are closed to adjudicate these disputes peacefully. Because prohibition and not firearms create conditions for criminal violence to rise, it is reasonable to argue that ending drug prohibition is the most sincere and effective way to combat criminal violence, and simultaneously protect liberty from future restriction. Repealing these consensual crime laws will end criminally-controlled commerce, result in a dramatic reduction in drug-related violence involving firearms nationwide, and reduce the stigma for people seeking help with substance use. As a result, the reduction in enforcement and correctional spending may be used to create more effective drug addiction prevention and recovery programs, or reduce taxes. |
Gun safety advocates may have narrowed their focus from a broad range of firearms regulations and restrictions to the current push for universal background checks on all gun sales, but that doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned their aim for more regulations and restrictions in the future, Cutler said.
Cutler plans to present evidence in the coming days that Gun Sense Vermont and Everytown for Gun Safety — an organization formed by a merger of Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America — have a larger legislative agenda in Vermont, he said.
Gun rights proponents said repeatedly Tuesday that gun violence is not a problem in Vermont and that the acts criminalized by the proposed legislation are already federal crimes. Requiring all sales to be supervised by a licensed gun dealer, as the bill does, won’t make people safer, but will be a burden for legal gun owners, they said.
“If you’re unlicensed, and you sell to a felon, that’s already a federal crime,” said Ian Galbraith of Burlington. If the US Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms aren’t able to enforce the law, they need to be given more resources, he said.
Governor Peter Shumlin echoed that message at a Tuesday news conference. He said Vermont doesn’t need to pass a law that mirrors federal gun laws in state statute.
“If you’re willing to break federal laws, you’re likely to be willing to break state laws,” Shumlin told reporters.
“I think if the federal government isn’t enforcing their laws, that’s a problem. Don’t make ’em if you can’t enforce ’em,” Shumlin said of federal gun laws.
Vermont is well-served by the gun laws it has, and he hasn’t heard from state police that taking guns away from felons is a problem for them, Shumlin said.
Gun safety groups say the need for universal background checks is glaring. People prohibited from having firearms are using online classified websites catering to gun sales to avoid licensed dealers, according to a recent report from Everytown for Gun Safety.
Vermont may have a low incidence of violent gun crimes, but women are disproportionately victimized because firearms exacerbate domestic abuse situations, gun safety advocates said at a recent news conference.
In the 17 states and the District of Columbia where universal background checks are mandatory, the number of women killed by their intimate partner with a gun dropped significantly, they said.
But universal background checks are “de facto gun registration,” according to Cutler and a report by Gun Owners of Vermont, because the form buyers must submit requires them to list the make, model and serial number of the gun they’re purchasing (page 3). While access to that information can only be obtained currently as part of an investigation, Cutler said it leaves the door open to registration and eventually confiscation of firearms.
“This might not happen this year or next, but make no mistake about it, in three, five or 10 years down the road, Gun Sense and some anti-gun legislators will be back asking for registration because the universal background checks aren’t reducing gun crime,” the report states.
Kevin Lawrence, a Newbury teacher and longtime hunting safety instructor, opposes new gun laws. Photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
Kevin Lawrence, a school teacher in Newbury, and for the past 25-years, a hunting safety instructor, said he and other lawful gun owners will refuse to comply with the background check law if it’s passed.
“Then, I’ll be a criminal,” Lawrence said.
Were the law to pass, Lawrence predicted that enforcing it could lead to a showdown between police and gun owners. Thaddeus Severy agreed.
“That’ll start the revolution,” Severy said. “They’re going to knock on the wrong door, and that will be the shot heard ’round the world.”