In emotional testimony, Alyssa Black said that her 23-year-old son had appeared normal to clerks who had sold him a cup of coffee, a turkey sandwich, a Pepsi and a gun. In fact, she said, he’d been in the midst of a “fleeting, two-day-long self-pity fest” sparked by a social media post.
If only Andrew had been required to wait a certain period before buying the gun, father Rob Black told the committee, he would still be alive today.
The Essex family came to the Statehouse to advocate for legislation sponsored by Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) that would require gun buyers to wait 48 hours between passing a background check and taking possession of a firearm. The bill would also require guns to be locked up when not in use.
In the months since they called for such a waiting period in Andrew’s obituary, the Essex family has been piecing together the final hours of his life, using social media history, receipts, background check information and recordings he made on his phone.
Alyssa Black said she “can almost feel the doubt” in the messages her son recorded as he moved forward with a plan to kill himself. At one point, he recorded a message giving himself 36 hours to live, she said. The deadline passed minutes before Andrew bought his gun.
“You could see him trying to give himself more time,” Alyssa said.
But in his final messages, Andrew told someone that he’d done something bad and it was “too late” to reverse it. His mother told senators that Black then sent a photo of his new gun on his bed and said goodbye.
Rob, who sat quietly for much of his wife’s testimony, told the committee that the couple has been contacted by people all over the country with “eerily similar stories” to their own.
Dr. Rebecca Bell, who works in the pediatric intensive care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center and serves on the state’s child fatality review team, said the Blacks aren’t alone.
She said she couldn’t disclose the details of cases she deals with at the hospital or the ones she reviews as part of the state team. But she said that, in a way, the committee had already heard those stories.
“I can tell you that they are the story of Andrew Black,” she said.
Bell said impulsive young people with easy access to guns — more lethal than almost any other means of suicide — can create a deadly combination. Often, she said, suicide attempts take place within minutes of a person’s decision to kill themselves.
“That time period is very, very short,” she said. According to Bell, a waiting period paired with mandatory safe storage of guns could make a significant difference in Vermont’s suicide rate, especially among young people.
Gun rights advocates also see Baruth’s bill as a matter of life and death. They are fighting the proposal because they say it could hinder access to guns for people who need them quickly for legitimate reasons, such as defense against domestic abusers and rabid animals.
“Fact: A waiting period can be very dangerous,” Ed Cutler, the president of the advocacy group Gun Owners of Vermont, told committee members Thursday. “If a woman is being stalked by an abusive husband or any stalker, a waiting period could be the difference between life and death.”
Wildlife could also pose a threat to Vermonters without quick access to guns, Cutler said.
“Fact: You may also need to have a firearm for protection against rabid animals,” Cutler said. “Rabies is a serious problem in this state … My fear is it’s coming back.”
According to the Vermont Department of Health, the state documented 24 cases of rabies in animals in 2018 — down from 48 in 2016 and 166 in 2007.
Cutler said waiting periods provide no guarantee that a person won’t die by suicide, but they do guarantee a delay to Vermonters exercising their constitutional rights.
“One should not be required to wait two days in order to protect themselves,” he said.
Baruth said he is optimistic the waiting period legislation could pass this year, potentially in combination with a trio of bills from Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex/Orleans), a gun-rights supporter, designed to address unintended consequences of gun legislation passed last year.
Rodgers’ bills would amend a new ban on high-capacity magazines to allow their use in shooting competitions and enable family members to share them. Baruth said he’s “open to those” bills.
“I have to say I’m mostly open to them as part of a bargain to [pass] what I think is the most important feature today, which is the waiting period,” Baruth said.
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Sears (D-Bennington) said his committee will take up all four bills as soon as lawmakers return from their Town Meeting Day break next week.
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I have a gun safe in my house and live by the highest standards of gun safety. That said a law that tells me how to store weapons in my own HOME, on my land is insane government over reach.
My heart goes out to the parents of Andrew Black .
As for the gun apologists , your crocodile tears for victims of domestic abuse are a disgrace . A cooling off period is more likely to save lives by allowing a short period of reflection by those buying guns to “get back” at others including abused women . Ya got me on all those rabid chipmunks though .
“Dislike” me all you want gun loons .
My condolences go to the family of Andrew Black. However, as long as Andrew’s suicide is being used as a justification to limit Second Amendment rights, please tell us what psychotropic pharmaceuticals Eric was on (if any), especially those common ones that list ‘suicidal ideation’ as a side effect. The public has the right to know.
To my knowledge this is the second suicide in ten years or so where the decedent purposely purchased the firearm to end their life. ( The other was an employee of Vermont Law School. ) I can deduce that, for the vast majority of firearm suicides,
the waiting period would be pointless, as the firearm was most likely previously acquired. I submit that a waiting period would not have “saved” Andrew – – merely postponed his final act. Unfortunately, truly suicidal people don’t telegraph their
intentions, and a firearm waiting period is unlikely to deter them.
As for Richard’s adolescent-level diatribe, I might suggest he look beyond the alphabet soup media outlets, and he will
discover that there are many situations where a (usually) woman has been killed by an abuser that (obviously) doesn’t care about your laws. There was a lady in New Jersey a couple years ago that died waiting the required 10 days.
Varmint has heard of two cases, and so he thinks that’s all there are. Did he not read the part where Dr. Bell confirmed that this is not an isolated occurrence? She’s a pediatrician, and I bet not any of the cases she was talking about would make the news because she’s talking about children. But Varmint is more concerned about getting guns into the hands of abused women. Tell me how many cases we’ve seen in Vermont of women going to buy a gun because of an abusive man.
Face it. Most guns are bought and used by men. It is more likely the abuser who has a gun. A woman with a new gun is not a danger to a trained shooter. And she knows it. So why would she go buy a gun? This is pure sophistry, but the gun lovers are out in force tonight.
I think this needs to be repeated for emphasis, as it is constantly ignored, especially by Doctors giving rhetoric as testimony.
“My condolences go to the family of Andrew Black. However, as long as Andrew’s suicide is being used as a justification to limit Second Amendment rights, please tell us what psychotropic pharmaceuticals Eric was on (if any), especially those common ones that list ‘suicidal ideation’ as a side effect. The public has the right to know.”
Please Dr. Bell… you serve on the states child fatality review team. How often is this a factor? How often are the parents of a child really made to fully understand the horrific side effects of the drugs their child is being put on by pharmaceutical company pimps calling themselves doctors?
Barbara, you apparently have really poor reading comprehension or just very low intellect. Dr. Bell confirmed NOTHING. If she had any hard numbers, based on any actual evidence, without disclosing names, she could have presented that information. Instead all she offered was hearsay, baseless assumptions and her own personal beliefs. Credibility=ZERO
The interesting thing she does say is ” guns more lethal than ALMOST any other means of suicide”. So there are worse things being used more often/more effectively… What are they please? And why aren’t you testifying about them? Why is Phil Baruth not on yet another crusade regarding them?
Maybe if Andrews parents had been so incredibly concerned about his problems in the years coming up to his final act, he wouldnt have seen death as his best way to cope with his problems. Now theyre using the instrument of his suicide as a scapegoat to take the weight of their own failed parenting off their shoulders and expecting everyone else in Vermont to carry it. And as usual, the politicians can’t let a tragedy go to waste.
“Maybe if Andrews parents had been so incredibly concerned about his problems in the years coming up to his final act, he wouldnt have seen death as his best way to cope with his problems.”
This is a shameful thing to say.
knowyourassumptions “This is a shameful thing to say.”
Is it now? Who is it that bought this families business into the public light, placed in under public scrutiny? All while trying to use it to effect the law by which we are all expected to live…
If not his own parents, then who is responsible for the boys actions? Please tell me? Maybe you? If the boy had murdered a bunch of other people, would you not be looking at his parents asking how they could have raised him that way? Well, he did murder someone… Himself. Who had years worth of opportunities to both responsibly monitor and adjust his path in life, to safeguard him from getting to such a place, the gun?
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the field for 20 plus years, one thing I am certain about is that the troubled individual always gives out warning signs. Problems can start at home, in school and within the community. Behavioral challenges manifest..the family has a choice to either acknowledge it and get help or justify the behavior and get no help. I am certain this young adult was exhibiting challenges or distress in the home for some time and the family may have minimized it or ignored it. There are always signs…then the unforgivable happens. Now with this family there is a need to blame…instead of allowing time for the grieving process, acknowledge what happened, and learn from it. There were choices that could have been made differently, but now this family needs to live with it all…choices made, choices ignored, loss of son…and much more…
Senator Baruth is trying to push the premise that if there was a waiting period, this tragedy would not have occurred. My experience is that this is without merit. Based on this article, this young adult had mental health issues and unclear if he was under any care or supervision by a specialist. Also unclear if on any psychotropic medication which has proven side effects of increased aggression, depression and suicidal ideation…This is a family issue not the governments!
It is sad that during this time of mourning, the government has taken advantage of this family and made them believe that if there was a waiting period, their son would still be here…regretfully no…when someone has suicidal ideation with a plan and intent, sometimes its just a matter of time despite all the interventions in my professional experience.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the field for 20 plus years, one thing I am certain about is that the troubled individual always gives out warning signs. Problems can start at home, in school and within the community. Behavioral challenges manifest..the family has a choice to either acknowledge it and get help or justify the behavior and get no help. I am certain this young adult was exhibiting challenges or distress in the home for some time and the family may have minimized it or ignored it. There are always signs…then the unforgivable happens. Now with this family there is a need to blame…instead of allowing time for the grieving process, acknowledge what happened, and learn from it. There were choices that could have been made differently, but now this family needs to live with it all…choices made, choices ignored, loss of son…and much more…
Senator Baruth is trying to push the premise that if there was a waiting period, this tragedy would not have occurred. My experience is that this is without merit. Based on this article, this young adult had mental health issues and unclear if he was under any care or supervision by a specialist. Also unclear if on any psychotropic medication which has proven side effects of increased aggression, depression and suicidal ideation…This is a family issue not the governments!
It is sad that during this time of mourning, the government has taken advantage of this family and made them believe that if there was a waiting period, their son would still be here…regretfully no…when someone has suicidal ideation with a plan and intent, sometimes its just a matter of time despite all the interventions in my professional experience.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the field for 20 plus years, one thing I am certain about is that the troubled individual always gives out warning signs. Problems can start at home, in school and within the community. Behavioral challenges manifest..the family has a choice to either acknowledge it and get help or justify the behavior and get no help. I am certain this young adult was exhibiting challenges or distress in the home for some time and the family may have minimized it or ignored it. There are always signs…then the unforgivable happens. Now with this family there is a need to blame…instead of allowing time for the grieving process, acknowledge what happened, and learn from it. There were choices that could have been made differently, but now this family needs to live with it all…choices made, choices ignored, loss of son…and much more…
Senator Baruth is trying to push the premise that if there was a waiting period, this tragedy would not have occurred. My experience is that this is without merit. Based on this article, this young adult had mental health issues and unclear if he was under any care or supervision by a specialist. Also unclear if on any psychotropic medication which has proven side effects of increased aggression, depression and suicidal ideation…This is a family issue not the governments!
It is sad that during this time of mourning, the government has taken advantage of this family and made them believe that if there was a waiting period, their son would still be here…regretfully no…when someone has suicidal ideation with a plan and intent, sometimes its just a matter of time despite all the interventions in my professional experience.
Not that I really expect any actual journalism from SevenDays… but this question STILL remains unanswered.
“please tell us what psychotropic pharmaceuticals Eric was on (if any), especially those common ones that list ‘suicidal ideation’ as a side effect. The public has the right to know.”
If this is a public safety issue, it needs to be looked into. Regardless of the instrument of the suicide if commonly prescribed drugs are making people suicidal, this needs to be exposed! I’m sure it won’t get any attention as without the anti-gun crusade, it doesn’t fit into Phil Baruth’s criminal agenda. Tell us Phil, why is it only the suicides with a firearm that matter so much to you? Best propaganda money can buy huh…
“If the boy had murdered a bunch of other people, would you not be looking at his parents asking how they could have raised him that way?”
No. Is that really how you think? Let’s blame the Columbine shooters’ parents? Let’s blame the Sandy Hook shooter’s parents? Let’s blame the Parkland shooter’s parents? Let’s blame the parents of anyone who commits a crime?
If I was planning on killing myself, a gun would be way down my list on my preferred methods People who commit suicide by gun choose that method because they already have one and is usually an impulsive act.
Whatever the Senate passes I am sure Gov Scott can come up with an excuse to sigh it.