In Vermont, licensed gun dealers are required to check whether someone is able to purchase a firearm using a federal database before all sales, but private sales at gun shows or online are not subject to those rules.
That creates a âdangerous loopholeâ that allows criminals, domestic abusers and the seriously mentally ill to buy guns âwith no questions asked,â said Ann Braden of the control advocacy group Gun Sense Vermont. Braden was joined by interfaith leaders and advocates who voiced their support for legislation to close that loophole.
âEvery day in our state guns are being used in domestic relationships to threaten women and children. It can just take a gun on the coffee table to equal a lifetime of living in fear,â Braden said.
The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the likelihood of homicide by 500 percent, Braden said. In 16 states with universal background check laws for firearm purchases, 38 percent fewer women are killed by guns, she said.
âBecause of the loophole in our criminal background check system, right now abusers can go online, find an unlicensed seller and meet up with them in the parking lot and buy a gun no questions asked,â Braden said.
Sen. Philip Baruth, D-Chittenden, said he will introduce legislation requiring background checks for all firearm sales this week.
Baruthâs bill would also allow state-level prosecutors to enforce federal firearm possession laws and require Vermont to report the names of people with mental illness who a judge has ruled are a danger to themselves or others to the National Instant Background Checks System (NICS) — the database used to check if someone is able to purchase a gun.
Senate Democrats John Campbell, D-Windsor, and Claire Ayer, D-Addison, will co-sponsor the legislation, which could face an uphill battle as Vermontâs strong gun rights lobby will likely push back on any legislation tightening gun laws. Gov. Peter Shumlin has repeatedly said the stateâs current laws are sufficient and Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, another powerful Democrat, has also voiced opposition to universal background checks.
But Gun Sense Vermont is prepared to launch a vigorous push for tighter gun laws, having spent $39,000 on lobbying last biennium, and the upcoming disclosure filing on Jan. 25 is likely to detail additional spending for the period between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2014. Gun Sense also made $25,000 in campaign contributions during the past election cycle.
The group has also built a grassroots machine arriving at the Statehouse with more than 12,000 petition signatures and 1,000 constituent letters calling for universal background checks. Supporters wearing green Gun Sense Vermont stickers spent Wednesday afternoon meeting with Senate lawmakers.
Bill Moore, firearms policy analyst for the Vermont Traditions Coalition, said his group opposes universal background checks. The proposed legislation would weaken Second Amendment rights and would not solve the problem it targets.
âWhen you get into the statistics themselves, they show a couple clear things, that either the person is ineligible to own a gun to begin with, or they are already using it in the commission of a felony. These are things that are already crimes. Once again, the background check doesnât affect that,â Moore said.
âItâs an unenforceable law, unless you have a registry of gun owners ⌠thatâs a nonstarter anyway,â he said.
Baruth said calling a law âunenforceableâ is a common opposition tactic.
âSome people speed on the highway, some of them we catch, but more or less youâre trying to change the culture. Here, weâre trying to change the culture so people understand you need a background check. It doesnât mean youâll catch everyone.â
Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, a longtime advocate for the mentally ill, said itâs problematic to report the names of people who a judge has ruled to be a danger to the federal database.
Vermont law does not require a finding of lack of mental competence for civil commitment, just that they are a perceived danger to themselves or others at the time of commitment.
Research has repeatedly shown people with serious mental illnesses are either no more likely, or only slightly more likely, to commit violent crimes, Donahue said, adding that mental illness is treatable and people do recover.
âLaws that assume that âonce mentally ill, always mentally illâ restore the stigma of outdated medical knowledge,â Donahue said.
Baruth said his bill will contain a provision allowing people who were involuntarily committed to prove to the court they are no longer a danger.