House Education to consider gun, weapon ban on all school property
by Guy Page and Tim Page
A gun control bill purportedly for “implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide” was approved 7-3 last week by the House Human Services Committee and is up for House Judiciary Committee review Wednesday at 9 AM.
H230 makes these claims:
- More than 700 Vermont residents died of gunshot wounds in the decade from 2011 to 2020. 88 percent of these deaths were suicide. Of all the deaths in Vermont involving firearms in 2021, 89 perceny were by suicide and 8 percent were by homicide.
- The 2021 suicide rate by all methods in Vermont was 20.3 per 100,000 persons, compared to a national rate of 14.0 per 100,000 persons. Suicide among Vermont men and boys is 50 percent higher than the national average.
- In 2021, the number of suicides in Vermont was 142, with 83 of them completed by firearm, or 58 percent.
- Children are 4.4 times more likely to die by suicide in a home with a firearm compared to a home without a firearm.
A 2014 State of Vermont report finds that education, not prohibition, is the most effective way to reduce suicide by gun, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs President Chris Bradley told House Human Services before it approved the bill by a 7-3 vote.
“This [2014 VT Dept. of Mental Health] research finds that to decrease firearm deaths by suicide the immediate focus must be on recognizing that saving the lives of gun owners is a conversation and a cause that must be shifted from firearm legislation to mental health promotion, and to communities, families and networks of friends and peers,” Bradley quoted from the study.
VTFSC supports and promotes safe gun storage, Bradley said. However, laws requiring lockups have been found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, Bradley told Human Services Feb. 21.
It’s an argument Bradley will surely make, in more detail, to House Judiciary, which focuses less on health outcomes and more on matters of criminal law.
“In the 2008 case of DC v. Heller, the Supreme Court struckdown a law which required that Firearms must be made inoperable or locked up, as these actions did not allow the use of that firearm for self-defense situations. Simply put: It is unconstitutional to force citizens to lock up their firearms, but they can voluntarily do so with education, guidance and easy access to low-cost or free locking mechanisms. It may even be worthwhile to establish a grant program for relatively inexpensive biometric locking devices,” Bradley said.
H230 flatly states its purpose: reducing suicide by reducing access to firearms.
“The purpose of this legislation is to prevent death by suicide by reducing access to lethal means of firearms. Although there are many other methods forcompleting suicide, firearms are unique in their ability to create instantaneous and irreversible outcomes. Nearly every other commonly used method for suicide has a high survivability rate. It is extremely rare for someone to survive a suicide attempt in which a firearm is used. This fact, combined with the high prevalence of firearms in Vermont, is why this method alone is being addressed by this bill.”
In practice, H230 would:
Criminalize failure to safely secure a firearm in a home where children (under age 18) could reasonably be expected to access an unsecured firearm. A sentence of up to five years could be imposed if death results from a child accessing the unsecured firearm.
Require signs at gun dealers notifying potential buyers about the law.
Allow a family or household member to ask a judge for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), with or without notice to the respondent, prohibiting a person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving a dangerous weapon or having a dangerous weapon within the person’s custody or control. At present, only criminal justice authorities may seek ERPOs.
Impose a 72-hour waiting period on any firearms sale or transfer, following completion of the federal background check on the buyer.
Scheduled to testify on H.230 9 AM Wednesday are:
- Rep. Alyssa Black, Co-sponsor
- Erik FitzPatrick, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel
- Alison Shih, Counsel, Everytown for Gun Safety
- Chris Bradley, President, VT Federation of Sportsman Club
- Eric Davis, President, Gun Owners of Vermont
- Billy Clark, Litigation Attorney, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – Invited
- Timothy Lueders-Dumont, Legislative & Asst. Appellate Attorney, Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs
- Rory Thibault, State’s Attorney, Washington County
- Rebecca Turner, Supervising Attorney, Appellate Division, Office of the Defender General
- Judge Thomas Zonay, Chief Superior Judge, Vermont Judiciary
H314, prohibits firearms and deadly weapons in schools and on all school property, will be reviewed, discussed, and possibly voted 3 pm Wednesday in House Education. The bill would impose a flat ban on firearms possession on all school property, not just in buildings or on school buses, as now required by law. Introduced Feb. 22 by Rep. Kate McCann (D-Montpelier), it has not yet been reviewed by any committee.
Schedule for All Vermont Legislature Committees this week: Click on Committee name for Zoom links. Agenda listings top-line only, not inclusive. Click here to see the complete weekly schedule of all committees on one page. Click here for list of all committees and links to their bills, members and contact information.
House Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry
23-0761 – An act relating to miscellaneous agricultural subjects
H. 205 – An act relating to establishing the Small Farm Diversification and Transition Program
Vermont Housing and Conservation Board
FY24 Budget
H. 145 – An act relating to fiscal year 2023 budget adjustments
House Commerce and Economic Development
H. 10 – Create VEGI oversight board
FY24 Budget
House Corrections and Institutions
Governor’s FY24 – FY25 Capital Budget Proposal
H. 102 – Amends the Art in State Buildings Program
Governor’s Recommended FY 2024 State Budget
PCB Testing in Schools
H. 314 – Bans deadly weapons on school property, excepting law enforcement
23-0927 – Establishes strategic goals and reporting requirements for the Vermont State Colleges
23-0910 – Eligibility of approved independent schools to receive public tuition
H. 126 – 50% of all Vermont land in conservation by 2050
H. 158 – Expands the beverage container redemption system
H. 276 – Creates a rental housing registry
Disability Awareness Day
H. 157 – Vermont basic needs budget
House Government Operations and Military Affairs
H. 270 – Further deregulates and legalizes cannabis
23-0705 – Miscellaneous changes to election laws
H. 251 – Issuance of a Brady letter, misconduct under jurisdiction of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council
H. 125 – Revises rules for various boards and commissions
23-0659 – An act relating to technical corrections for the 2023 legislative session
23-0959 – An act relating to the Vermont Criminal Justice Council Recommendations Bill
H. 282 – Adopts the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact
H. 283 -Expands suicide-prevention funding, services
H. 206 – Vermont Health Access changes, Medicaid dental coverage
Governor’s Proposed FY2024 Budget
Governor’s Proposed FY2024 Budget
H. 222 – Expands legal med-assisted treatment for opioid addiction
H. 94 – Reach Up
H. 171 – Amends adult protective services
H. 40 – Makes contraceptive tampering a crime
H. 288 – Reduces liability for sale of alcohol to intoxicated persons
H. 22 – Sexual exploitation by police
H. 27 – Coercive controlling behavior basis for abuse order
H. 230 – Reduce suicide by reducing “access to lethal means”
House Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife
Not yet published
Governor’s Proposed FY2024 Budget
H. 101 – Reducing transportation carbon emissions
23-0157 – Transportation Program and miscellaneous changes to laws related to transportation
H. 127 – Legalize sports betting
H. 66 – Mandated family and medical leave insurance
H. 217 – An act relating to miscellaneous workers’ compensation amendments
H. 165 – An act relating to school food programs and universal school meals
23-0138 – Protection from nuisance suits against farming
23-0760 – An act relating to miscellaneous agricultural subjects
Task Force to Revitalize the Vermont Dairy Industry Report
S. 5 – “Affordable Heat Act”
FY24 Budget
Senate Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs
S. 19 – Tobacco prohibitions
S. 49 – Enhances genetic and consumer health information privacy
S. 73 – Makes cancers eligible for firemens’ workers comp. coverage
23-0951 – An act relating to school construction
23-0756 – An act relating to school safety
23-0909 – Miscellaneous changes to education law
S. 83 – Allows State education property tax to be used for infrastructure
S. 93 – Repeals tax exemptions for advanced wood boilers
S. 65 – Requires commercial insurance to cover epinephrine auto-injectors
S. 68 – Expands tax deduction for student loan payments
S. 60 – Authorizes municipal adoption of local option taxes
S. 95 – Various amendments to banking and insurance laws
S. 99 – Makes miscellaneous changes to vehicle laws
S. 35 – Hartford’s infrastructure financing
S. 63 – Medicaid cover three rounds of in-vitro fertilization
Emergency Response Communications
S. 32 – Ranked-choice voting for presidential primary elections
S. 17 – Sheriff reforms
S. 104 – Designates August 31 as Overdose Awareness Day
S. 39 – Legislators’ pay and benefits
S. 78 – Establishes establishes rights for temporary State employees
S. 42 – Prohibits State retirement systems from investing in fossil fuels
Green Mountain Care Board
S. 37 – Protections for abortion and gender-reassignment
S. 56 – Public preschool and other childcare, education changes
S. 18 – Flavored-tobacco ban
S. 36 – Permits arrest without a warrant
S. 47 – Transport of individuals to psychiatric care
Governor’s FY24 – FY25 Capital Budget Proposal
State House Expansion
S. 4 – Violent crime reduction for juveniles through gun control
S. 14 – Justice expenditure reporting
S. 27 – Reducing usage of cash bails
S. 33 – Miscellaneous Judiciary procedures
S. 16 – Repealing legal exceptions for clergy
S. 89 – Establishes a forensic facility, allows involuntary psych treatment
Senate Natural Resources and Energy
S. 100 – Attempts to address severe housing shortages
S. 64 – Regulates loud exhaust, idling, child restraints. Bike lanes required
S. 48 – Regulating sale of catalytic converters
S. 77 – Charges GPS navigation providers for drivers violating Smugglers’ Notch winter closure
Mileage Based User Fee Program Proposal