The committee bill being drafted doesn’t include universal background checks, a provision advocates and supportive lawmakers have conceded will have to wait for another time. The draft bill’s language is not yet posted to the legislative website.
However, there are three provisions now in play. The first would add a subset of the violent crimes that prohibit a person from owning a gun under federal law, so that state-level prosecutors can enforce them.
The provision emanates from concerns raised by local police and state’s attorneys that lower priority violations of federal gun laws aren’t being enforced by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Lawmakers say empowering local police and state’s attorneys to proactively tackle those offenses could get guns away from violent criminals before they commit serious crimes like robbery or homicide.
Another provision under consideration would require people with mental illness, determined by a court to be a danger, be reported to the FBI’s background check database. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee sent a memo endorsing the provision to Judiciary just before the town meeting recess.
Language for that provision drafted by Health and Welfare would require that a more “narrow universe” of people with mental illness be reported than what is required by federal law. It also contains a section that would allow a person to petition for his right to own guns, according to an attorney for the Legislature. Because that information comes from a court — making it a public record — the bill limits what information is sent to the FBI to comply with HIPPA regulations and protect privacy.
“This is important to me and I’d like to see you adopt this,” said Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison, chairwoman of Health and Welfare.
A third section calls for a study report on the Gun Shop Project, a suicide prevention program developed in New Hampshire that aims to educate the gun-owning community about the dangers of firearm suicides and offers harm-reduction strategies. Sears said he added the provision after hearing interest from gun rights groups in Vermont.
Sears called the provision a “starting point for our committee bill,” adding that he expects the details to be ironed out before the planned Friday vote.
If the bill were to pass the Senate and the House — where no House-authored gun bill appears likely to hit the floor — it still faces a potential veto from Gov. Peter Shumlin who has said repeatedly he doesn’t think Vermont needs any new gun restrictions.
