The new proposals, from Rep. Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington) would put a 10-round limit on magazines and require guns to be locked up when they’re stored outside of the owner’s control.
“To have more than 10 rounds, it makes a firearm a more lethal weapon — more of a killing machine,” LaLonde said. “It’s one of the areas that advocates for having safer gun laws are really pushing, and they’ve studied this and they believe that this is one of the best things we can do for these shooter situations.”
The safe storage provision, he said, is designed to protect children and teens from hurting themselves or others by getting their hands on a gun without supervision.
Second Amendment advocates are firmly opposed to both measures on the grounds that they unduly restrict Vermonters’ ability to protect their homes.
On Tuesday, LaLonde proposed those and two other amendments that didn’t survive the week: One would have banned assault weapons, and the other would have implemented a 10-day waiting period before buyers could take possession of a gun.
LaLonde confirmed Friday what gun rights advocates had warned: When it came down to it, the House Judiciary Committee could not figure out a definition for “assault weapon” that made sense to them.
“In a manner that wouldn’t be both over-broad, in that it would capture firearms that we’re really not concerned about, but at the same time being under-inclusive it would be relatively easy to get around those characteristics and have a firearm that we’d be more concerned about as far as the lethality about how it could be misused,” he said.
The waiting period, LaLonde said, wouldn’t work because neighboring New Hampshire doesn’t have one.
“So if somebody is impulsive enough to want to buy a handgun or a firearm to do harm, right across the border is where that happens,” LaLonde said.
The remaining amendments under consideration — magazine capacity limits and safe storage — also don’t have support from firearms policy analyst Bill Moore of the Vermont Traditions Coalition.
“The storage requirement will impinge on the choices of people to defend themselves in the home. Clearly those people are most likely to be women defending single-family homes, the handicapped … it’s going to affect them first,” Moore said. “It always afflicts the afflicted first.”
Moore said storing a gun, much like storing a chainsaw or the keys to the family car, is a decision best made in the home.
“To have that imposed on me by the LaLonde amendment, it doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
Similarly, Moore said a 10-round limit on magazines could leave Vermonters short on ammo when they need it most. He describes a mother of two dealing with a home invader.
“If she’s not a proficient shooter and she’s clutching an infant in one arm and she’s holding an elbow back toward her four-year-old saying ‘shush, shush’ … does she not have the right to hold 11 rounds?” Moore asked, noting that many modern handguns come standard with 12- to 17-round magazines.
Eight states and Washington, D.C., have placed limits on magazine capacity, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
House Judiciary Chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) told the committee Friday that she hopes to hold a vote on LaLonde’s remaining amendments, and the underlying bill that came over from the Senate, by Wednesday.
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The storage requirement will impinge on the choices of people to defend themselves in the home. Clearly those people are most likely to be women defending single-family homes, the handicapped its going to affect them first, Moore said. It always afflicts the afflicted first.
Gosh Id love to see the data on gun ownership by gender, especially since from the photos of the gun rights event at UVM, it sure seemed like most of the people there were men over the age of 40.
http://projects.vpr.net/gunshots-vermont-g…
Wow how small minded of you CWINKLEM to think that women dont own guns and are not supporters of organizations like the NRA. Just so you know the lead spokesperson for the NRA is in fact a woman and she does a fantastic job. These proposals will do nothing to stop violence. Criminals dont follow laws so all this wasted time and money wont stop them and will only put law abiding citizens at a disadvantage if they are ever forced to defend themselves from criminals that dont give a fuck what the law might be. It will also open up a hole new black market for these banned items. And as far as the storage goes it is a great overreach for the government to be able to tell someone what they have to do with their own property in their own home. Hell it is agains the law to drug test welfare recipients because it infringes on their personal rights but now its ok to tell law abiding citizens what they have to do with things they bought themselves.
I do think there is a point where the legislature tries to be too much of a nanny state. I inherited guns from my parents after never having owned any prior. I agree it is up to the parents to act responsibly and teach their children responsibility. I know people who have loaded guns near them due to fear of home invasion, my parents were that way the older they became.
I grew up with those same guns in my parents’ house and the gun cabinet was not a safe, it was easy to get into it and easy to get to the ammunition but my parents taught me to respect guns and what they are capable of. I knew never to play with them, I would use them for hunting until I decided it was not for me, I used they for target practice, and I knew to always make sure they were unloaded, never point them at anything I did not want to shoot, and treat them with respect.
I think this is a case of you cannot legislate proper parenting nor common sense.
If shes not a proficient shooter and shes clutching an infant in one arm and shes holding an elbow back toward her four-year-old saying shush, shush does she not have the right to hold 11 rounds?
What? How often does this actually happen? I would say if you need more than 10 rounds in a gun to defend your home without being able to reload it probably means a swat team has come for you and you are no longer defending your home.
Magazine caps are a joke. Changing magazines takes less than a second. There wont be any difference between a shooting done with 10 round or 15 round magazines.
Detachable magazines are 100+ year old technology. There’s no putting this genie back in the bottle, it’s like trying to limit the societal impact of the wheel.
Some quick reading about the last time we tried this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assa…
The reason we need high capacity magazines is so that shaky shooters can fire off more rounds in a dark room containing infants and toddlers?
I was traveling with relatives over the weekend. All three of us own guns. I believe in gun control, restricting access to semi-automatics, magazine capacities, universal background checks, 10-day waiting periods, and mandatory gun safety courses before purchasing a weapon. They did not.
We came across deer and grouse and talked about hunting. Then we saw a single coyote in the field. They both said that coyote is why they own ARs. The rapid fire allows them to shoot with more confidence that they’ll hit the coyote. When I asked if their right to have guns to shoot rapidly at a coyote means that others will have easy access to the same guns that can kill people so quickly, from great distance, and with little pause for loading, they answered ‘yes.’ No hesitation. There was no convincing them of otherwise, despite them both knowing how easy it would have been for the alleged Fair Haven man to gain a weapon that would have allowed him to take down the armed SRO and enter the school. That’s the price they are willing to pay in order to be confident to shoot the coyote.
I give up, putting the genie back in the bottle is indeed possible. If gun owners are currently good guys, there’s nothing for the rest of us to worry about. Let’s stop future bad guys from being able to obtain weapons of war so easily. Eliminate the background check loopholes. Strengthen the NICS database to include mental health. Support a 10-day waiting period. Treat semi-automatics as we do full-automatic weapons.
The 2nd Amendment is provided to prevent the overreach of government, that’s all. We the people are facing the worst corruption in government in our history, and it is a threat from the deep state, the shadow government, which MAGA Trump is doing all in his power to reveal and to take down. In Vermont, we have Senator Sanders who was screwed over by the DNC, all of his funds moved to Hitlary’s account, and stolen from the donors. The Demorats are corrupt from their beady eyes to their tails.
McCabe has broken so many laws, committed perjury, promoted the Uranium One treasonous sale, and was recommended for removal by the Professional Board of Ethics, yet Senator Leahy (groan) is defending him, and accusing Trump of blocking legal investigations. Leahy is a disgrace to honest people.
This is why Vermont Patriots will keep the most lethal weapons possible, with the most lethal ammo, and the highest capacity mags… it is because we are being taken over by very evil forces, the globalist left that has infiltrated our Government and the media, including NPR & VPR. Without trust in government, nobody is going to give an inch of defense away. Deal with it.
I love it when the legislature pretends like they have the authority to do something like this, completely in violation of the constitution, and continues on having no authority at all in this matter. Just setting themselves up for prison time. We The People tire of this BS.
When they start believing they can legislate right into our living rooms, it’s time to set the record straight of who answers to who.
cwinklem so you think only men have guns? What state are you from because it can’t be Vermont. I’m the oldest of 5 sisters and every one of us have guns. I belong to the NRA, have been for yrs.. Our father taught us how to use guns. our first lesson was respect for guns at a young age. I know a hella lot of women who own guns. My husband taught our kids, and matter of fact my daughter is a marksman, she hits the bullseye every time. At age 9 her first shot was a bullseye. Also most of the men are over the age of 40?. Geee were your eyes even open. I know for a fact there were women there and young men 17 yrs old and up.. Go listen to yourt liberal VPT station, who don’t know what they’re talking about.. It;s mine and everyone else right TO BEAR ARMS. The Legislators nor the government have any rights to deny us our rights.Oh, 7th generations here who are Vermonters who have always had guns and no one ever shot anyone. !!!
I agree with the ban on bump stocks they serve no purpose for hunting or for target practice. I think that everyone should at the least take a hunters safety course to learn how to properly handle a firearm. However I don’t agree with the ban on rifle magazines for one thing someone who is planning on shooting up a building full of people doesn’t care about getting in trouble for using banned magazines it’s that simple.