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This is an excerpt from the Final Reading of Tuesday, Feb. 18.

A gun control bill has just gotten a rewrite, even as a House committee plans to vote on it later this week.

The bill, H.610, would mandate the confiscation of firearms from alleged domestic abusers after a court issues a restraining order. The bill would also close the “Charleston loophole,” which has allowed some people to obtain firearms before a background check is complete.

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The latest version creates specific guidelines for police serving firearms-relinquishment orders. The change came after law enforcement groups testified last week about putting officers in potentially dangerous situations without clear rules for how to proceed. It also creates a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison, for failing to abide by an officer’s orders or impeding an officer serving a gun-relinquishment order.

The bill has been redrafted seven times. The latest version was issued Friday, but was apparently not posted to the House Judiciary Committee’s website until Tuesday morning because of the Presidents Day holiday.

“The bill changes dramatically from version to version,” said Bill Moore of the Vermont Traditions Coalition. “It doesn’t allow us to respond in a thoughtful manner.”

Especially, he added, when Judiciary had scheduled a public hearing on H.610 for Tuesday night — less than 24 hours after the current version of the bill was available to the public.

“Yes, we have seven versions,” said Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. “When you have a complicated bill, there are often a lot of drafts. It’s what the legislative process is about.”

The rewrites have sparked concern from Democrats as well as gun-rights groups. “I have concerns about the burden on small police forces,” said Rep. Marcia Gardner, D-Richmond. “I’ll get back to my local police department and see if they feel more comfortable with the current version.”

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Moore said the bill would “establish an ‘express lane’ for confiscating firearms without due process.” He is also concerned with the provision creating a crime for failing to comply.

LaLonde said the committee has heard from gun advocates and taken their views into account. “We’re at the point where we have narrowed down the areas of disagreement, except for the gun rights groups,” LaLonde said. “The only way to satisfy them is to put the bill back on the wall.”

LaLonde said the committee is still “hoping to” approve the bill later this week, following an afternoon of testimony and the public hearing Tuesday night. That doesn’t leave much time to take new testimony into account.

Rep. Martin Lalonde, D-South Burlington, nominates Rep. Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, as speaker of the House on the opening day of the Legislature in 2019. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

This is an excerpt of Final Reading. For the full rundown of bills in motion at the Statehouse, the daily legislative calendar and interviews with newsmakers, sign up here for the unabridged version delivered straight to your inbox Tuesday through Friday evenings.

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