Gun owners: Abandon background-check bill

MONTPELIER – The Statehouse cafeteria turned orange Tuesday.

Dozens of gun-rights supporters traveled from across the state despite the snow to oppose a bill that would tighten background checks on private gun sales. The organization Gun Owners of Vermont later reported that 270 people signed an attendance sheet that evening.

They huddled around cafeteria tables with legislators in the afternoon. Orange hats, vests and camouflage boots mixed with suits and ties. At one table sat John Campbell, a Democratic state senator from Windsor County and the bill's lead sponsor. He passed around copies of the latest draft and debated the bill with several men.

"This is the slipperiest of slopes," said Ed Wilson, a gun dealer from Morrisville, who had flipped over the legislation packet to find space to sketch his argument in pen. The conversation was measured and polite.

The Senate bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, and Claire Ayer, D-Addison, would require background checks on all private gun sales, except those within an immediate family. The seller and the buyer would appear in person before a licensed firearms dealer to facilitate the sale.

The legislation also would ban gun ownership for people who have been convicted of a violent felony.

Convicted felons already are barred from gun ownership by federal law, Campbell said, but the U.S. Attorney's Office sometimes lacks the resources to prosecute those cases.

"They're under-resourced," Campbell said. "I want us to be able to bring another tool into the arsenal of stopping drug dealers from coming into this state."

Gun owners argue that Vermont is one of the safest states in the nation in terms of violent crime. Wilson, the gun dealer from Morrisville, said he believes the background-check provisions would be impossible to enforce.

"There is absolutely no way to enforce a universal-background-check law," Wilson said in an interview. The only way to enforce the law requiring all gun sales to be accompanied by a background check, he said, would be to require all guns in Vermont to be registered.

"The problems that could occur through this law, and using this law as a framework down the road — the problems could be so onerous that it'd be much worse than the problems that exist," he added.

The background-check provision has been most controversial, and gun-rights supporters already have pledged to defy the provision if it's enacted.

The Statehouse cafeteria was packed to overflowing at 5 p.m. for a presentation by several state officials, including Campbell.

"Everyone has a right to have a right to have a firearm," Campbell told the room of gun-rights supporters. "Everyone has a right to defend themselves and their property. This is nothing about trying to take anything away regarding that."

"Not yet!" yelled several people in the crowd.

"There's no registration — " Campbell continued.

"Yet!" the crowd responded.

The background-check section of the bill is worthy of a robust public debate, Campbell said.

Gov. Peter Shumlin sees no need for new gun laws, he said during a Tuesday news conference.

"The current laws that Vermont has in place around guns serve us well," said Shumlin, a Democrat. Not one Vermont state police officer has complained to him about problems with the current laws, Shumlin said.

Likewise, the governor said, he rarely hears Vermonters blame their problems on gun laws. The Legislature, he added, should focus on affordability, property taxes and health care costs.

"Why are we trying to focus on the issues that divide us?" Shumlin said.

A public hearing on the Senate gun bill has been scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m. Feb. 10 in the House chambers of the Statehouse.

Also this session, the Legislature could decide to vote on three proposed local gun regulations that were approved by Burlington residents last year. If lawmakers approve, the Burlington measures would allow police officers to confiscate weapons from suspected domestic abusers, prohibit guns at bars, and require guns to be stored with locks.

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The Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs also opposes the Burlington charter changes and argues they would create a patchwork of conflicting local gun laws across the state.

Note: This article has been updated to include an attendance count from the Gun Owners of Vermont.

Contact April Burbank at 802-660-1863 or aburbank@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AprilBurbank