[T]he House Judiciary Committee is debating a bill that would make it a state-level crime for certain felons to possess guns. The legislation would also require courts to report some people with severe mental health problems to a national database.
Several witnesses, including two police officials, a prosecutor and an advocate from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, testified Tuesday in favor of all or part of S.141, which passed the Senate two weeks ago.
S.141 makes possession of a firearm a criminal misdemeanor for people who have previously been convicted of a violent crime.
It also requires the Department of Mental Health to report people who are involuntarily hospitalized to the Superior Court administrator, who would then enter the information into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. People included in that database are unable to buy or possess firearms.
The “violent crimes” section of the bill would include many violent felonies, plus sexual exploitation of children, and several laws against selling, dispensing or trafficking drugs like cocaine, heroin and Ecstasy. It would exempt some violent felonies involving motor vehicles.
Tony Facos of the Vermont Police Association and Montpelier’s Chief of Police said the law would help police arrest violent felons who are already prohibited from possessing guns under federal law.
Currently, Facos said, local police officers cannot arrest a felon for being in possession of a firearm. The U.S. attorney could prosecute that person under federal law for having the gun, but it’s up to the federal attorney, he said.
“Since I’ve been a police officer for 30 years in Vermont, and we’ve always asked ourselves, why can’t we arrest someone who shouldn’t have the weapon?” Facos said. “This [law] is a very important tool that quite frankly I’ve been asking for for 30 years.”
David Cahill, executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, said the bill’s scope is fairly narrow because it only includes some felons, especially sellers and traffickers of large amounts of illegal drugs.
“If there’s a concern that someone might have been a small-time drug dealer at one time, this law wouldn’t apply to them, even though they’re still a criminal under federal law for possessing a firearm,” Cahill said. “This law is much more protective of the individual than many other prohibited person laws.”
S.141 would not prohibit all persons with mental health disorders from having guns.
The Superior Court administrator would be legally required to report people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System who are “adjudicated as a mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution” under a specific federal law.
Each individual report would give the person’s identity, reason for the report and a statement that the report was made in compliance with federal law. The report would be exempt from public records laws, but the state would compile statistics about how many people are reported each year.
Tim Bombardier, of the Vermont Chiefs of Police Association and Barre’s Chief of Police, testified in favor of the mental health reporting requirement.
“Let’s say you have a mild case of PTSD and you’re afraid of the sound of thunder,” Bombardier said in an interview. “That’s a mental health problem. [If] you voluntarily seek treatment, this law wouldn’t apply to you.”
Rep. Vicki Strong, R-Irasburg, said in an interview that she is concerned about how the mental health reporting requirement might stigmatize people with mental health disorders.
“I want to hear a definition of harm to themselves or others,” Strong said. “From what I read, you can’t really define who is going to be of harm to themselves or others.”
House Judiciary is scheduled to discuss S.141 Wednesday morning with testimony from doctors and mental health providers.
