[W]ASHINGTON — The chief of the Burlington Police Department joined prosecutors and police officials from across the country to urge Congress not to move forward with a bill that would allow some people to carry concealed guns across state lines.
As the House Judiciary Committee took up the measure in a hearing Wednesday morning, Chief Brandon del Pozo and two dozen high-profile prosecutors, police officials and lawmakers held a press conference advocating against it.
Under the legislation, states that allow concealed carry would be required to accept permits issued by other states.
People who hold concealed carry permits in their home state would be able to carry in other jurisdictions. That means residents of states that do not require permits to carry a concealed firearm, like Vermont, would be able to carry without a permit in other more restrictive places.
The bill, del Pozo said, “uses gun laws in places like my home state of Vermont to hold public safety hostage in places like New York City.”
Del Pozo said it would be relatively easy for people who wish to carry guns across state lines to establish residency in Vermont.
“Imagine you’re a person who has the opportunity to engage in criminal activity by carrying a concealed weapon legally anywhere in the country,” del Pozo said. “Permitless states like Vermont will be exploited to the detriment of public safety of everyone else.”
According to Giffords Law Center, 12 states, including Vermont, do not require a permit. All other states have some form of permit for carrying a concealed firearm. Most states, including Vermont, have restrictions on carrying guns in some public spaces, according to the center.
The bill is a key legislative priority of the National Rifle Association. Proponents say it will ease travel across state lines, that it codifies reciprocity agreements already in place in many states, and that it protects constitutional rights.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said in remarks at the committee hearing Wednesday that the bill would protect Second and 14th Amendment rights.
The committee advanced the bill on a vote of 19-11 late in the afternoon.
Goodlatte said people who carry concealed guns are prepared to defend themselves and others.
“I strongly believe the way to combat gun violence is not to infringe the rights of law-abiding citizens, but to enforce the laws against criminals,” Goodlatte said. “This bill is about the simple proposition that law-abiding Americans should be able to exercise their right to self-defense even when they cross out of their state’s borders.”
Cy Vance, district attorney for Manhattan and co-chair of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, said the concealed carry proposal “is foolish, it is dangerous, and it’s going to be deadly” in some jurisdictions.
Vance attributed a steep decrease in the homicide rate in New York in recent decades to the enactment of gun control measures. He said the concealed carry proposal could result in hundreds of thousands of concealed firearms coming into New York.
The group also advocated legislation to ban so-called bump stock devices, which can be attached to semi-automatic firearms to increase their rate of fire so they mimic automatic weapons.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a longtime gun control advocate and sponsor of the bump stock ban legislation, referenced the recent shootings at a concert in Las Vegas and a church in Texas in urging lawmakers not to move forward with the concealed carry proposal.
“It’s particularly shocking that House Republicans decided to advance this bill in the wake of two of the deadliest shootings in United States history,” Feinstein said.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., also spoke in favor of the bump stock ban and against the concealed carry reciprocity proposal.
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said in an interview Wednesday he is opposed to the concealed carry bill.
“The state of Vermont is entitled to do as it wants, but our state shouldn’t be imposing its point of view on other states,” Welch said.
Welch asserted that the proposal steps on states’ rights to set policy.
“This is beyond Second Amendment protection and into promotion of a one-size-fits-all approach and taking away states’ rights,” Welch said. The Second Amendment refers to the right to bear arms.
In an interview, del Pozo said Vermont’s gun laws, less restrictive than those in many states, work for Vermont.
“Our police officers from the moment they put on a Burlington badge know that they’re in a city where anybody could be carrying a gun for any reason,” del Pozo said.
However, he said, that’s not true in other states. Police in the New York City borough of the Bronx, for instance, do not have the same expectation.
“Why is a federal sleight of hand going to allow Vermont’s gun culture and gun sensibilities to supersede legislated public safety law in New York City?” he said.
Asked about the proposal, Evan Hughes of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs said the group “has long held that laws should be based on sound public policy and in compliance with the applicable constitution.”
