S.131 violates the 1987 Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights law, critics say
By Guy Page
The Vermont Senate this afternoon, Thursday April 24 will debate a proposed amendment to the Burlington City Charter banning firearms in bars.
Supporters say it’s needed to reduce the increase in homicides in downtown Burlington and elsewhere. Critics say it violates a landmark 1987 state law pre-empting municipal gun control.
S.131 was approved by Senate Government Operations by a 3-2 vote, with Democrats Vice-Chair Tanya Vyhovsky, Rebecca White and Allison Clarkson, all Democrats, voting yes. Republicans Brian Collamore (the chair) and Larry Hart voted no. [corrected vote from earlier edition.]
A lively floor debate is expected when the Senate convenes at 1 PM. S.131 is the fourth item on the agenda. The session will be live-streamed. Rutland Sen. Terry Williams, and perhaps Sen. Pat Brennan of Chittenden County may speak in opposition, State House observers say.
At issue is a proposed municipal charter change banning possession of firearms in the city’s bars, following a fatal shooting outside a Church Street bar last year. Aaliyah Johnson, 22, was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Teville Williams, 30, of Stowe, as reported by Vermont News First reporter Mike Donoghue.
This isn’t the first time the City of Burlington has sought the Legislature’s permission to pass a gun control ordinance. Several 2014 ordinances approved by city voters couldn’t get legislative approval, which is required under the state constitution.
To date, all such efforts in Burlington and other communities have failed, in part because a 1987 law passed that specifically pre-empted municipal gun control laws.
Commonly known as the Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights, the 1987 law states: “Except as otherwise provided by law, no town, city, or incorporated village, by ordinance, resolution, or other enactment, shall directly regulate hunting, fishing, and trapping or the possession, ownership, transportation, transfer, sale, purchase, carrying, licensing, or registration of traps, firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition.”
Opponents of S.131 say the Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights makes the bill unlawful because of the first six words: “Except as provided by law.” At present, no state law allows municipalities to regulate firearms possession. Should the Legislature pass such a law, city ordinances might escape the SBOR pre-emption. But it hasn’t, so they don’t.
The law has been challenged by gun-control groups such as Gunsense, whose executive director Conor Casey (now a legislator from Montpelier) was quoted in VTDigger saying “We’d like to start in a few communities to sort of build a critical mass to get some support going at the Statehouse.”
S.131 has shuttled back and forth from the floor to the committee and back to the floor several times this week, as supporters seek language that passes constitutional muster and might satisfy enough senators to vote yes. The latest version of the bill more strictly defines where guns could be banned to the actual bar, and not on property on or around the bar as well.
The incident that prompted the bill actually occurred outside the bar, when Johnson allegedly shot dead Williams outside the bar following an altercation inside the bar.
Senators may be contacted by their constituents by leaving a message at the Sgt.-At-Arms office of the State House at 802-828-2228, or by email.