By Guy Page
In a straight party line vote, the Vermont Senate Thursday afternoon gave preliminary approval to S.131, the Burlington city charter change to ban the possession of firearms in bars.
A Democrat spoke of the bill’s popularity in Burlington, the deleterious effects of mixing alcohol and guns, and the need for better public safety. Two Republicans argued S.131 violates current law banning municipal gun control, raised questions about enforceability, and worried about being left unprotected walking from parking garages to downtown.
The gun control bill sponsored by Sen. Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden) is scheduled for third and final reading today. If approved, it will advance to the House, where the Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee (at least) is expected to examine the bill closely.
The bill passed 17-12, with all 12 Republicans present voting no. Sen. Steve Heffernan (R-Addison) was absent. At the request of Senate Minority Leader Scott Beck, a roll call was taken.
Voting Yes:
Baruth of Chittenden-Central
Bongartz of Bennington
Chittenden of Chittenden-Southeast
Clarkson of Windsor
Cummings of Washington
Gulick of Chittenden-Central
Hardy of Addison
Harrison of Windham
Hashim of Windham
Lyons of Chittenden-Southeast
Major of Windsor
Perchlik of Washington
Plunkett of Bennington
Ram Hinsdale of Chittenden-Southeast
Vyhovsky of Chittenden-Central
Watson of Washington
White of Windsor
Voting No:
Beck of Caledonia
Brennan of Grand Isle
Brock of Franklin
Collamore of Rutland
Douglass of Orleans
Hart of Orange
Ingalls of Essex
Mattos of Chittenden-North
Norris of Franklin
Weeks of Rutland
Westman of Lamoille
Williams of Rutland
As expected, the bill provoked a floor exchange. Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky (D/P Chittenden), who helped guide the bill through the committee process, started it off with two key points: 1. Burlington voters want this bill very much and 2) alcohol and guns don’t mix.
All quotes courtesy of goldendomevt.com.
“The charter has passed in 2025 with an overwhelming eighty six point six percent of those voting supporting this change. It is clear that the voters of Burlington want the ability to create more safety in their city by eliminating guns in bars,” Vyhovsky said.
“As a child, at my very first firearm safety class, it was impressed upon me that guns and alcohol do not mix. A conversation that I’ve had again and again with friends and family, whether it be at the range or at another firearm safety course. As a social worker who also has an undergraduate degree in neuroscience, I know why guns and alcohol do not mix,” she said.
The bill is less about gun control and more about public safety, Vyhovsky insisted.
“To be clear, this is not about taking people’s guns away. This is about public safety and preventing predictable tragedies. Just like we don’t allow open flames at gas stations or drunk driving on our roads, approving Burlington banning guns in places where alcohol is flowing and conflict can erupt in seconds just makes sense.”
Disputing the unlimited constitutional right to carry in public, she quoted legal precedent, like 19th century Texas and New Orleans bans on guns in saloons, and more recent Vermont bans on guns in hospitals and schools.
In response, Sen. Terry Williams (R-Rutland) rose to oppose S.131 because it violates the 1987 Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights pre-emption law prohibiting municipalities from enacting gun possession restrictions in violation of state laws.
“S.131 is a direct violation of the state’s preemption statute,” Williams said. “S.131 may be lawful only if passed by the Legislature, but it certainly is illegal today because our preemption law exists and it prohibits what is, what it proposes.
“By using what appears to be a loophole in the preamble of the existing preemption statute which states, ‘except as otherwise provided by law,’ we’re being asked to support a bill that’s illegal. I guess, in a technical sense, violates current law for sure…all in the hope that it will pass in this body, then in the other body, and finally be signed by the governor.”
Williams said he won’t break the law “by violating my oath of office so the one town can violate the Vermont preemption statute, which specifically prohibits what S.131 wants to do.”
Sen. Pat Brennan (R-Grand Isle) said he opposes the bill because it creates situations in which people from out of town (much of Burlington’s hospitality industry clientele) may unknowingly enter a bar carrying a gun.
A native of Burlington, Brennan also expressed concern about how dangerous it is to walk from the parking garage to downtown Burlington.
“This is gonna create a patchwork of firearms laws. It could trickle down to other items, other things, throughout the state. Unpredictable.
“I’m worried about signage. I’m worried about the traveling public, not knowing. I’m worried about our own citizens from throughout the state, not knowing about this regulation. I’m worried about what happens when they do, when they are stopped at the door or in a restaurant with a firearm. And I’m worried, I’m really worried about how we enforce this.
“The only way I can see to enforce this would be to just reinvigorate the stop and frisk law, which I think most of us in this room would not appreciate. So I don’t know how you enforce it. I don’t know if we’re requiring metal detectors at the doors of every establishment in Burlington. I doubt it.
Brennan then presented the flip-side of the public safety argument: that responsible people carrying guns makes people, and the community, safer.
“And I worry about my ability and the ability of every other Vermonter [to stay safe]. 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?
“Would I be allowed to do that now? No. Things have changed. Things have changed everywhere, so I’m not singling out Burlington. But I worry, I do go down to Burlington, downtown, out to dinner.
“Sometimes it’s a parking garage, which is not one of the best places to be at night these days. And it’s a two block walk to the restaurant in most instances. I worry about how I’m gonna get there safely with my wife, my grandkids, and so forth.
“I, people may know, do carry occasionally, and especially when I’m in downtown Burlington. To get from the car to a restaurant can be very dangerous.”
Both Williams and Brennan expressed the desire to return the bill to the Judiciary Committee, due to the criminal penalties in the ordinance. They also suggested the Senate could just let the bill lie.
In the end, the Senate voted yes but by a margin that would sustain a veto by Gov. Phil Scott. VDC has reached out to Gov. Scott’s office for his opinion on S.218.
P S. VDC’s coverage of S.131 prompted this online comment by former State Capitol complex security officer Pat Finnie, now retired and living in Washington County:
“Laws like S.131 are not only misguided, but dangerous as they disarm honest citizens, and prevent the possibility for them to defend themselves, and/or, if need be, others. I have never heard of anybody saying “I’m glad I did not have a firearm to defend myself,” or “I’m glad that I, my wife, or other loved one got shot, and all I could do was watch, and wait for the ambulance, and cops to get here!”