The bill would prohibit people with convictions for certain violent crimes from owning firearms. It would also require that people with mental illness who are found by a court to be a danger to themselves or others be reported to an FBI database.
Earlier this session, a trio of top Democrats, led by Senate Pro Tem, John Campbell, D-Windsor, introduced similar legislation, but the previous legislation also required background checks for all private gun sales — except those among immediate family members.
That legislation had strong backing from the advocacy group Gun Sense Vermont. But when Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, opposed the universal background check provision, it was abandoned.
Gun Sense Vermont Executive Director Ann Braden said the bill’s passage out of committee was an “historic victory” for any firearms legislation to see this kind of movement despite opposition from the gun lobby.
“It shows that Second Amendment rights, respect for the 16th amendment of the constitution go hand in hand with gun violence prevention,” she said.
Sears said he was proud that his committee had reached consensus on a path forward, and that the panel was able to pass the bill on a 5-0 vote.
“Is it perfect? No. Is it everything that I would have done if I had been doing it alone? No. But I’m very proud of my committee that, on a very controversial subject, we were able to come up with a couple practical solutions that might better protect Vermonters,” he said.
However, Sears rejected the idea that the bill is in any way historic, comparing it to other “common sense” gun bills, such as banning them from schools and courthouses. He called his committee’s bill “natural progression” on that same path.
There were a couple sticking points in the negotiations, as vice-chairman Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, pushed back on the range of crimes in the bill that would prohibit a person from owning guns. He questioned whether several offenses rose “to the level of taking away someone’s constitutional right.”
On a few crimes, Benning was joined by Sens. Jeanette White, D-Windham, and Sen. Alice Nitka, D-Windsor. Ultimately, the committee narrowed the list of crimes to exclude lewd and lascivious behavior, reckless endangerment, several motor vehicle crimes and misdemeanor neglect or abuse of a vulnerable adult.
Benning also pushed back on the waiting period of three years before someone adjudicated to be a danger can petition the court to have their name stricken from the FBI database.
“It shouldn’t be an arbitrary bar that prevents them from going in and applying,” for their right to own guns to be reinstated, Benning said.
Sears and the rest of the committee agreed to take further testimony on the waiting period for a court application next week. If the committee as a whole were to change course, then a revised petition process could be introduced as a floor amendment when the legislation is taken up by the full Senate.
Evan Hughes, vice president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs — a local NRA affiliate — said there are aspects of the bill that he finds concerning, but emphasized that this legislation is still “evolving” and his group will continue to be involved in that process. Hughes said he finds the mental health reporting requirement particularly troubling.
“The Federation’s position has always been that somebody who is mentally ill, once they are no longer mentally ill, they should no longer be a prohibited person,” he said.
“It’s not like a case where someone has been convicted of a crime. Many of these cases, they’re just in there to be protected for their own welfare,” Hughes added.
The bill has one final provision that has seen support from both gun safety and gun rights groups, which calls for a study of the Gun Shop Project, a firearm suicide prevention program started in New Hampshire.
That program focuses on educating the firearms’ community about risk factors for suicide, and offers tips for prevention, such as holding onto a friend’s guns if they’re experiencing depression or going through a difficult period in their lives.
“This bill will assist law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the ever-growing battle against drug dealers importing their wares into Vermont,” Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell said in a statement.
