[V]ermont’s legislators didn’t manage to get new gun legislation to Gov. Phil Scott before breaking for recess on March 2, but five bills are moving — with more potentially on the way. There has been a concerted push in Montpelier to pass legislation after a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, that was quickly followed by the arrest of of a young man in Vermont who was allegedly planning a mass attack on his old high school in Fair Haven.
Lawmakers are back in session this week and gun bills will be among the first orders of business for the judiciary committees in both chambers. Here’s a rundown of what’s happened so far, and where things are headed.
• The four bills that have been passed by the House or Senate include two “extreme risk” gun seizure bills, a domestic violence gun law and another bill that would require universal background checks and raise the minimum gun purchaser age to 21.
• All four bills have been crossed over to the other chamber, and could be taken up when lawmakers return from Town Meeting Day recess this week. Scott, who previously said he saw no need for new gun laws, now says he is open to all of them, and possibly more.
• Another bill in the legislative pipeline would ban bump stocks, devices that modify semi-automatic rifles to allow them to be fired more rapidly.
What’s in play? There are two similar bills (with significant differences) that were passed by the House and Senate earlier this month. They have been sent to the other chamber for consideration.
• Both bills would give law enforcement and family members the ability to request a warrant allowing police to temporarily seize firearms from people deemed to pose an “extreme threat” to themselves or others. But there are important differences between S.221 (the Senate bill), which passed unanimously, and H. 675 (the House version).
• We’ll save most of the details for later, but the main upshot is that the House Judiciary Committee decided the Senate bill was weak and too narrowly focused, so that panel came up with its own bill.
• The House bill would make it easier for police to seize firearms and give them special powers to remove guns from domestic violence situations. That, along with a few other changes, probably lost the support of some conservative legislators along the way.
So what happens now? It won’t be clear until lawmakers get back to work. Uncertainty and frustration were two of the prevailing moods as legislators headed home for Town Meeting recess. Some senators were frustrated that the House did not pass their version of the bill. House members who made the changes said a strong bill was their priority, unanimity be damned.
• One scenario would see both chambers insist on their version of the bill and eventually meet for cross-chamber negotiations to hash out a compromise.
• Or the House could decide to pass S.221 after all, the Senate could pass H.422 (the domestic violence bill) and they could agree to use another bill, or bills, for additional provisions.
• Scott had the last word before the recess: “As you know, the Governor would have liked S. 221 to have come to his desk by today, so while disappointed that did not occur, Gov. Scott appreciates the work the Legislature has done in addressing the safety measures he called for in his memo,” Rebecca Kelley, the governor’s spokesperson, said Friday.
His memo? The governor called a press conference in the days following the Fair Haven arrest to announce a slate of initiatives focused on protecting schools. A few of the highlights:
• Conducting security assessments of all schools.
• Providing $5 million in grants that can be used for new security upgrades at schools.
• Engaging the media in a public service campaign highlighting the importance of “see something, say something.”
• Banning bump stocks.
• Considering increasing the age requirement for purchasing guns to 21, with exceptions.
Another major bill is headed to the House: S.55 was passed by the Senate on March 2. It would require background checks for private firearm sales — they are currently required only for sales through licensed dealers — and raise the minimum age for gun purchasers to 21. Whether it will be signed into law is unclear, but certainly possible.
• The bill includes two out of three age exemptions requested by Scott. It would allow members of the military and law enforcement officers to purchase firearms needed to carry out their duties, but does not allow sales to people who have completed accredited firearms training. Scott indicated he would still support that part of the law.
• Universal background checks could be the sticking point. Scott would need to sign any legislation before it becomes law, and he has refused to say where he will come down on background checks. He has repeatedly said he is willing to have the discussion with lawmakers once it gets to his desk.
What’s coming…
• The House Judiciary Committee is set to take up S.55, which contains universal background checks and an increased minimum age for gun buyers, on Tuesday.
• The House will begin taking concurrent testimony on H.876, which prohibits bump-fire stocks for firearms. This is among the policy initiatives being pushed by Scott.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled time this week to take testimony on H.422, but not H.675. That committee is headed by Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, a strong backer of S.221. Sears said Sunday he is taking up H.422 because that was part of an agreement he had with leaders in the Senate and House. H.675, he added, was not.
• Both Scott and legislators have also said they will be looking at regulating high-capacity gun magazines, though no such bills have been introduced yet. Scott has also said he would like to see a greater focus on school-specific safety measures.
Political flip-side: Gun rights advocates are not happy with what’s been happening in Montpelier in recent weeks. Scott has said he realizes the potential political consequences of the legislation, and some lawmakers have been careful to say that they support measures to address gun violence, but are not advocating “gun control.”
• Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, summed up the potential political blowback when Scott first indicated his support for gun regulations. “Hopefully, Phil is standing by his word to us,” Cutler said last month. “He told us no new gun control. That’s why we supported him to begin with.”
Back to the details of those “extreme risk” gun bills…
• H.675, which was passed by the House on March 2, has a lower threshold of evidence for law enforcement officials when deciding whether to seize firearms. A legislative source called this a “deal breaker” for gun rights advocates who had come around to the bill, and perhaps for lawmakers who still want the support of those groups.
• H.675 also includes elements from another House bill, H.422, which makes it even easier for law enforcement officers to get a warrant to seize weapons in domestic violence situations. H.422 has huge support from activist groups fighting against gun violence, and they were quick to speak up when it appeared it might be replaced by S.221, but it is unpopular with guns rights groups and their political allies.
• Both laws require law enforcement officers to obtain an extreme risk protection order (often called an ERPO) to seize firearms. Under S.221, that order can be extended by 60 days at a time by a court. Under H.675, that order can be extended by a year at a time. A judge can terminate the order at any time under both bills.
• Also under H. 675, when a police officer arrests or cites someone into court on a domestic assault charge, the officer may remove any firearm from that person if it is “necessary for the protection of the officer or any other person.” At an arraignment held on the next business day a judge would then take up the matter.
• The House bill also includes a provision that would make it a felony to bring a firearm onto school grounds with an intent to harm. That does not exist in the Senate bill.
Let us know what we missed, or what we should be watching, via email at cmeyn@vtdigger.org, on Facebook, Twitter, or by commenting below.
Alan Keays contributed reporting
