Editor’s note: This commentary is by state Sen. John S. Rodgers, a Democrat representing the Essex/Orleans District in Vermont.
[L]aura Wilson missed the mark in her recent editorial. Wilson said that I was “bitterly casting blame (as he sees it) on newcomers to Vermont.” I would like to know what qualifies her to know how I see things. Some of the best Vermonters that I know and some of my best friends grew up in and came from other states. I welcome people from anywhere as long as they do not attack longstanding Vermont traditions and try to take rights away from law-abiding Vermonters. I know that I offended some people and for that I am sorry. However, I did not mean to disparage people that came here from somewhere else and rereading my statement I do not believe that I did that. I did not put all newcomers in the same category, as many move here for our quality of life and to escape other places with no hidden agenda.
I do have a problem with the type of people who move in beside a farm then complain about the smell of cow manure. I also have a problem with people moving to Vermont, one of, if not the safest state in the nation, and try to take our constitutional rights away. I am an avid hunter but hunting has nothing to do with the Second Amendment or Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution. I am not fooled by these groups who want to take those rights away by using the one-step-at-a-time method. Some of them want to take our guns and ban all hunting and trapping.
I am a staunch supporter of the Constitution of the United States and the Vermont Constitution and I swore an oath to uphold both. I will uphold that oath. My stance on issues around firearms has not changed. I supported S.221 and H.442 because I believe that these bills can help to get firearms away from people that are a danger to themselves and others. I will continue to support bills that I think will make this a safer world while protecting all of our constitutional rights.
Wilson’s claims are unfair and unfounded. I believe that she and others who read my statement to disparage anyone who came from out of state is simple observation bias. If you talk to the people who know me and the people that I work with in the Statehouse, you will find that I do not discriminate based on where people are from, political view, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or anything else. My voting record will back that up. Wilson is right that I do not speak for the Essex County Democratic Committee as they can speak for themselves. I speak for the senatorial district of Essex/Orleans and all of its people no matter what their political affiliation is.
