[A]t the end of an obituary for 23-year-old Andrew Black, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound last week, his family made a request to readers: lobby your state representative for a law mandating gun purchase waiting periods.
Black purchased a gun on the morning of Dec. 6. He shot himself that afternoon. His family and gun control advocates believe that if he had been forced to wait to get the gun, he might have changed his mind.
“[We] ask that you work for legislation that imposes a reasonable waiting period between firearm purchase and possession to provide a cooling off period to guard against impulsive acts of violence,” Black’s family wrote in the obituary, offering a template message for readers to send to their legislators.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate say they are ready to take up the charge.
On Wednesday, Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, announced on Facebook that he will be proposing new gun safety measures, including a 48-hour waiting period for purchases, in the upcoming legislative session.
“It was very simple, it was very heartfelt,” Baruth said of Black’s obituary. “I guess my reaction was it was a debate we needed to be having.”
Baruth said he had already planned to propose a new package of gun safety proposals. In addition to mandatory waiting periods, he says the bill will include a strict gun storage requirement, and a ban on 3D printed firearms.
“If we have tight background check systems but someone can just walk into someone else’s house and grab a gun off the wall, there’s a problem there,” Baruth said.
Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, added a series of amendments to the gun control package that was ultimately signed by Gov. Phil Scott, including a ban on high capacity magazines that is being contested in court.
LaLonde said he would also push for a waiting period, though he wanted to study how much time was appropriate, and a safe storage law.
Only five states and the District of Columbia impose mandatory waiting periods for firearm purchases, according to Giffords Law Center to prevent gun violence.
Clai Lasher-Sommers, the executive director of GunSense Vermont, an organization that advocates for gun control policy, said a waiting period “makes all the difference” in preventing acts of violence.
“He didn’t have to wait. He just could buy it, so he could shoot himself,” Lasher-Sommers said of Black’s suicide. “That’s just telling. That’s exactly — so many times — what happens.”
Vermont’s suicide rate is higher than the national average, and about two-thirds of those suicides are committed with firearms, according to the Vermont Gun Shop Project. In 2017, 91 percent of the 66 deaths from gunshot wounds in Vermont were from suicide, according to a Vermont Public Radio and St. Albans Messenger analysis.
The latest call to tighten Vermont’s gun laws comes after the Legislature and Scott enacted broad firearms restrictions earlier this year following the arrest of a teenager who allegedly threatened a mass shooting in Fair Haven.
The legislation Scott signed in April expanded background checks to private sales, raised the age to purchase a firearm to 21, banned bump stocks and limited magazine size for handguns and rifles.
Scott’s office signaled Friday that the governor would oppose additional gun control regulations, including a waiting period for gun purchases. “The governor doesn’t believe additional changes to our gun safety laws should be the focus at this time,” Rebecca Kelley, the governor’s spokesperson, said in an email Friday afternoon.
The governor faced widespread criticism from his Republican base when he went back on his campaign promise not to change Vermont’s gun laws.
Others, including Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning R-Caledonia, questioned whether the additional measure would prevent violence.
“If you had a waiting period of a week, would that person have taken different steps? I don’t know,” Benning said. “Creating a law based on this one incident doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
Chris Bradley, president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, says waiting periods can make it harder for people who need firearms for immediate self defense to access them.
“I do have a concern that if someone is in fear of their life or their being attacked … that there is another side to this,” he said.
Baruth acknowledged that after the state just enacted new firearms regulations, it may be hard to gain traction among lawmakers who want to wait and see how the new gun laws are implemented before putting new ones on the table.
“With that, I think it’s also fair to begin the discussion about where we go from here,” he said.
LaLonde said he expected his colleagues to be more receptive to further gun control measures after seeing that it was no longer politically difficult to support tighter firearm regulations. He noted that a public call from gun rights activists for a candidate to oppose him in South Burlington went unanswered.
“I think what this past election showed is that the gun issue is no longer a third rail in politics in Vermont,” he said. “Is there a fear there would be repercussions if somebody was supporting common sense gun bills? I don’t think so.”
Colin Meyn contributed reporting.