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By Sam Douglass
A policy change that would modify the Burlington City charter to ban firearms in bars has been revived in the Senate Judiciary Committee—but this time, the policy extends statewide.
On Thursday, Senate Pro Tempore Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden Central), presented an amendment to H.606, an already controversial gun control bill that narrowly survived a final vote in the House Judiciary Committee in March. The Senator’s amendment revisits the issue at the heart of S.131, a similarly controversial bill that has sat in the House Government Operations Committee since April 2025. The difference being that the earlier legislation targeted bars in Burlington only, while the new proposal would ban firearms in bars and many other establishments statewide.
The Senate Pro Tem has been vocal in criticizing how S.131 was handled and on Thursday pointed to consistently strong support from Burlington voters, who have supported the policy by wide margins since 2014.
Vermont Federation of Sportsmens Clubs President Chris Bradley said this weekend he is aware of the amendment and was able to give testimony on Friday.
At the time, opponents of the original legislation raised concerns about how the ban would be enforced and its impact on law-abiding residents who feel unsafe without carrying a firearm in Burlington.
“I worry about my ability and the ability of every other Vermonter [to stay safe],” said Sen. Patrick Brennan in opposition to S.131. “I grew up in Burlington. Let me say this. I walked two miles every day in second and third and fourth grade to my grandmother’s. Would I do that now?”
Supporters of the measure, however, have also defended the proposal as a matter of public safety.
“In a place where people are in the process of becoming intoxicated, we do not want firearms available to them in that context,” Baruth said Thursday.
The original 2025 legislation was introduced following a 2024 shooting at a bar on Church Street and numerous incidents of gun violence since then have highlighted the urgency of additional measures to increase safety in the Queen City.
In his presentation, Baruth stated that he preferred for this policy to only affect Burlington, but with prior objections to S.131 creating inconsistent standards of enforcement from region to region, he supports the principle statewide.
“There was…grumbling from some quarters about the fact that the charter would create a piecemeal structure,” Baruth told lawmakers. “So this is…a prohibition on guns in bars statewide rather than just within the boundaries of Burlington.”
Lawmakers also discussed how the proposed ban would apply in mixed-use establishments, like hotels. In places with licensed bars, firearms would be prohibited in the designated areas where alcohol is served, but not necessarily in other parts of the building, such as lobbies or guest rooms.
Information for In Committee news reports are sourced from GoldenDomeVt.com and the General Assembly website. Generative AI has not been used in the writing of this story. The text of the amendment was not included on the committee webpage and was only provided in paper copies to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Categories: Gunrights, Legislation
Obviously Baruth hasn’t read Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution.
So he is pushing for another law that, like so many others, won’t be enforced by the spineless judiciary! It’s important that we treat all Vermonters like criminals to be equitable forget the Vermont Constitution! The only rights that matter are those the Leftist Progressives from “Moscow on Lake Champlain” say matter!!
the majority of people who are commiting crimes with guns are not registered.
so another layer of law. an as one commentor said, its never enforced. how about if you are found guilty of commiting a crime with a weapon you must serve a minimum sentence. that the criminals will get.
Let’s ban Baruth statewide. Let’s ban drag queens from schools statewide. Let’s ban progressives from legislatures nationwide.
What part of the second amendment does this communist not understand?
He doesn’t understand any of it !
There’s only one part to understand: “Shall not be infringed.”
You can’t carry in a bar in either Florida or Texas.
I’ve had to deal with that PIA personally.
He DOES understand. He doesn’t care. His real agenda is hidden.
He does not want to understand it, it’s not that he doesn’t.
The shooting referred to in this article did not occur inside a bar, but outside on the street in front of the bar….so not really at a bar. This proposed legislation, if it becomes law, still would not prevent that shooting from happening. Just sayin’. Once again, an attempt to get the camels nose of complete gun control inside the tent…
If we want to use observable characteristics related to gun violence incidents in Vermont, there is a much bigger association with a particular, visually-identifiable ethnic group’s involvement than there is with whether the venue where the crime occurred has a license to dispense alcohol. The single best way to reduce illegal gun violence is to lock up those who engage in it. Federal laws do this best and specifically target those who have prior serious offenses and/or use guns when engaged in other criminal activity such as drug dealing.
If we want to use observable characteristics related to gun violence incidents in Vermont, there is routinely a much bigger association with a particular, visually-identifiable ethnic group’s involvement than there is with whether the venue where the crime occurred has a license to dispense alcohol. The single best way to reduce illegal gun violence is to lock up those who engage in it. Federal laws do this best and specifically target those who have prior serious offenses and/or use guns when engaged in other criminal activity such as drug dealing.
Baruth was stated to leave government, why is he hanging on–until pay day? He hates hunter orange, anything that looks like a “weapon”. He’s incompetent to serve the state. Isn’t there such a facility being considered for the incompetent with about five various Depts to control. As John Paul states, criminals won’t be affected just the elderly element (being prominent) of Vermont’s citizens. Baruth needs a emotional high, nothing practical.
Right, parking lot shoot outs are totally safe. I remember the DC sniper shooting people outside of bars, restaurants, health clubs, etc..
So anybody exiting a bar will be waring a “gun free zone” banner .
Or, a banner that reads “I’m unarmed, my money is in my right front pocket beside my fentanyl “.
So you can walk into a bank legally with a gun but not a bar. Interesting logic but the idiot Democrats
Both Florida and Texas already have laws outlawing possession of guns in bars.
Baruth, the New Yorker, really wants to go out with a bang. His “gun safety” proposal will guarantee that there will be many more guns left in vehicles outside of bars and restaurants ripe for thievery.
I wonder what our founding fathers would think of this? And what they would do about it?
In September 1787, George Washington and other Founding Fathers consumed an astonishing amount of alcohol at a farewell party, including 60 bottles of claret, 54 bottles of Madeira, and various other drinks, totaling an estimated bar tab of around $16,000 in today’s money. This event took place at City Tavern in Philadelphia, highlighting the role of taverns in their discussions and celebrations during the founding of America.
I will be so glad when Baruth is no longer “serving” in the Vermont Senate ! Maybe a hero’s welcome in Lockport N.Y. is in order for their native son ! Nah, they probably don’t want him back . Good riddens to a wanna be Vermonter !
Pay phrase overlooked “and many other establishments” bars are just the beginning
“In his presentation, Baruth stated that he preferred for this policy to only affect Burlington, but with prior objections to S.131 creating inconsistent standards of enforcement from region to region, he supports the principle statewide.”
I call Bull$h!T on Baruth! He’s never met a piece of anti 2nd amendment legislation that he didn’t like. This was his plan all along, oh we can’t have there be a patchwork of inconsistencies, so we’ll just go statewide la de da. Pulling out all the stops for his legacy as he’s gone in November, like a rat jumping a sinking ship. 😡
Fortunately, Vermont has a firearm pre-emption law which prohibits individual cities and towns from enacting a patchwork of ridiculous restrictions…but that is the reason this particular restriction is now being pushed statewide.
This bill has nothing to do with safety or protecting citizens. It is part of the plan to hollow out our rights enumerated in the 2nd Amendment and Article 16. Many years ago the Brady Campaign attempted to ban all guns. When that didn’t work they tried to ban handguns by calling them “Saturday night specials’, they also tried to ban “plastic guns” when the Glocks came out saying that they were poorly made and could easily be smuggled past metal detectors and onto airplanes. There have been other attempts to vilify the firearms instead of the miscreants who use them to commit crime, but the the bans have failed and recent court cases have put anti-gunner’s dreams of banning guns on hold.
So now they have pivoted to a different strategy. Their somewhat new tactic does not target the type of gun they want banned, it targets where you can take them. We used to be able to carry concealed in the Statehouse but then it was banned. We used to be able to carry guns in hospitals but that is now banned. If they are able to pass a law banning guns in bars it will soon be expanded to all restaurants and if the restaurant is in a hotel it will include the hotel. Later the parking lots around these places will be added to list.
Soon, our right to concealed carry will be intact, but there won’t be anyplace where we can legally exercise that right. We will all be in “gun free” zones all of the time.
Baruth needs to take a bath in the five thousand gallons of water the St. Albans City water department over billed our house. Concrete shoes would be helpful. Dealing with crooks in every part of this state.
You only have one roadblock …. The second amendment……. You can’t fix brain dead …… from the same folks who think 119 CEOs and 500 million plus in admin costs is the way to go …. These idiots are living in Fantasy land
The text of this bill indicates that the owner of the bar (in whose name the liquor license was issued) may carry in his own bar. How generous of our odious overlords. Perhaps they could trust a successful family business to make their own rules rather than pounding every square peg into a round hole out of pure spite, which is exactly what the obnoxious, petty English professor is doing.
This law would work as good as the circle slashed out gun signs saying “No Guns Allowed” that I ignore on my drug store’s door when I pick up my RXs.
A gun restriction for a private business is only on the “honor system”. Just make sure your weapon is concealed, so you dont get trespassed from the establishment, or better yet, shop somewhere else. Folks who think that these piecemeal premises bans will prevent gun violence, just dont understand the concept that “the best way to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun”.
Some may recall the shooting outside of Nectars a few years back when a long-standing dispute between 2 men resulted in an innocent woman taking a bullet,
seriously injuring her. The person who fired the indiscriminate shot had been in the bar previously, making threats, so the bar staff asked to hold on to his handgun, which they returned to him when he left. Having a gun inside the bar was not the issue. It was the urban interloper with the 8 prior felony convictions who decided to settle that petty dispute on the street in the way that so many “urban people” do, with a gun, and with no regard for bystanders. That was also clearly a case where the perpetrator should have been locked up for his prior offenses, but instead was roaming the streets of Burlington looking for trouble. EXISTING federal law prohibited this beast from possessing firearms, but laws like that only apply to the law-abiding.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-vt/pr/man-involved-nectars-shooting-sentenced