Scott's pivot on guns leaves some supporters behind

SOUTH BURLINGTON - Just after a presentation on preventing lameness in dairy herds, Gov. Phil Scott stepped in front of a group of dairy farmers and changed the subject.

"I want to talk about school and community safety," Scott said, "and our Second Amendment rights."

On Feb. 22, the Republican governor announced that his views on gun policy shifted after he learned about an alleged school shooting plot in Fair Haven. Since then, Scott has been carefully working to quell an angry backlash from a portion of his base.

"I take this opportunity because you are the heart and soul of Vermont," Scott told the farmers at the Vermont Dairy Producers Conference, "and I just want to explain this and let you hear it from me rather than through some interpretation elsewhere."

Until last month, Scott's position was straightforward: no new gun laws. He courted the no-compromise Gun Owners of Vermont in 2016 while his Democratic opponent called for gun control.

Now Scott, who has never walked in lock step with national Republican politics, is falling out of sync with some Vermont supporters. He suspects that many of them have not read the details of his proposal.

"Once I have an opportunity to speak with someone one-on-one on the issue, they usually find that we’re closer to agreement than they initially thought," Scott said.

More: Vermont gun legislation: Where the proposals stand

Nonetheless, the governor's Facebook page has been swarmed by gun-rights advocates who say they will never vote for him again.

Joe Donaldson, of Fair Haven, said he recently attended a gun show where customers "appalled" by the shift in Montpelier were buying AR-15s and other weapons.

"I've been a Phil Scott supporter for a long time, even before he was governor," said Donaldson, who is upset by the governor's call to require people under 21 to take a firearms safety course before purchasing a gun. "Now he's really, really making me second-guess myself as to whether I would support him again or not. Just because of constitutional rights."

Lawmakers are sure to get an earful this week, when they pick up work on gun legislation after a Town Meeting break. Sportsmen plan to fill the Statehouse on Tuesday, and high school students plan to walk out of class Wednesday to protest gun violence.

Rejecting the ‘absolutists’ on gun rights

Jason Gibbs, the governor's chief of staff, noted in an interview that Scott invited "significant political risk" by wading into the gun debate. Scott developed his plan on gun safety without consulting either side, Gibbs said, though two sportsmen's groups were given a heads-up before the plan became public.

"The vast majority of the input has been positive," Gibbs said. "But there’s been quite a lot of outreach from gun-rights folks. Many of them are absolutists. ... We understand that they are very disappointed, but we no longer agree with that position."

In addition to proposals about school safety and mental health, Scott now supports laws that would allow authorities to seize guns in dangerous situations and raise the gun buying age to 21, with some exceptions. He is also open to working with Democrats to tighten background checks and limit high-capacity magazines.

"It is not easy to face my friends and supporters when they feel betrayed," Scott said at a recent news conference. "But I have to do what I think is best for the state, and keeping our kids safe in particular."

Melanie Berthiaume, a kindergarten teacher who lives in Fairfield, thanked the governor on Facebook. She is among the majority of Vermonters, according to a 2016 Vermont Public Radio/Castleton Polling Institute poll, who support background checks for all gun purchases and other restrictions.

"As a pretty liberal Democrat, I was kind of surprised," Berthiaume said of the governor's shift. "But I appreciated that open-mindedness, that he was willing to rethink the topic and change his mind."

Governor gets jab at UVM gun-rights forum

Gun advocates are preparing for a fight in the Statehouse and at the ballot box to defend Vermont’s tradition of minimal gun laws.

Nearly three decades ago, Republican U.S. Rep. Peter Smith watched Vermont gun groups turn against him when he supported a federal ban on certain types of semi-automatic assault weapons. The National Rifle Association, which previously endorsed Smith, urged Vermont sportsmen in 1990 to cast "protest votes" for independent Bernie Sanders. The pushback, among other factors, helped to end Smith's congressional career after one term.

More: How Vermont gun owners helped elect Bernie Sanders in 1990

Here in 2018, Scott's more conservative primary opponent, Keith Stern, has been quick to criticize the governor and mingled with the crowd at a gun-rights event in Burlington on Thursday night.

The Second Amendment event began with a jab at the governor: "We invited the governor here tonight, but he did not show up," said Jace Laquerre, a UVM student who organized the gun-rights discussion. "I am not surprised, seeing as that many of us here are in that 18 to 21 range that he doesn’t think should have the right to buy a gun."

(Rebecca Kelley, a Scott spokeswoman, said the governor's office received Laquerre's invitation just a few days in advance, when the governor's schedule was already full.)

Scott faces little risk of losing the Republican primary, but the gun issue illustrates a growing tension between the governor and the state party, said Eric Davis, professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College.

Last year, Scott stood against President Donald Trump's immigration policies and joined forces with Democratic leaders to limit immigration enforcement contracts between the federal government and Vermont police. Two dozen House Republicans split from their moderate governor and voted no. Scott later spoke out against the national Republican tax plan.

"I think we are getting a situation where the Republican Party in Vermont is more conservative and more pro-Trump than Phil Scott on a range of issues," Davis said.

'Our opportunity to look at things differently'

At the dairy conference, Scott chose his words carefully, emphasizing several times that his proposals "do not infringe upon the Second Amendment rights" and mentioning in passing the NRA safety course he took as a youth hunter. He encouraged farmers to read the details of the Fair Haven case.

"I'm sure many of you have experienced a situation in your life, maybe on the highway or on the farm, doing something careless where you walk away and say, ‘That was really close,' or have sworn to do things differently as a result," Scott said. "I think this is our opportunity to look at things differently."

Dairy farmers listened quietly, and there was no time for responses from the audience before Scott launched into a more traditional speech about his priorities and the importance of Vermont's agricultural sector.

"I share his concerns," Starksboro dairy farmer Eric Clifford said in a telephone interview after the speech. "My feeling is that he’s put a lot of personal thought into this, and I appreciate that."

Former Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican who led Vermont from 2003 to 2011, believes most Vermonters will understand that Scott is adapting to new circumstances. The threat of a mass shooting no longer feels like an abstract possibility, as it did for so many years.

"It's only March," Douglas said. "We just don't know what issues will be foremost in peoples' minds in the fall."

Contact April McCullum at 802-660-1863 or amccullum@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @April_McCullum.