Enfield
The “plink” of a hit target — the sound Adie, of Newbury, N.H., was hoping for — followed the small crack from the gun.
While shooting straight is important to him, so is the shared experience of shooting with his daughter, Lauren, on Father’s Day.
“It’s an experience that until you do it, you can’t understand it,” Adie said, of hunting and shooting.
But in the wake of last weekend’s mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., legislators are once again looking at gun control measures to reduce the risk of gun violence. It’s a push that Adie hopes they approach just as carefully as he is around firearms.
“I personally should not be penalized by the acts of crazy people,” he said. “There are hundreds of thousands of responsible gun owners that are going to be or will be affected by the actions of a few.”
But after the death of 49 people in an Orlando night club last Sunday, Democrats are calling for legislation to expand background checks and prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing guns.
Days later, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., held the Senate floor with colleagues in a 15-hour filibuster into the early morning Thursday, to demand action. President Obama also called for reform while meeting with victims’ families.
“Those who defend the easy accessibility of assault weapons should meet these families and explain why that makes sense,” Obama said.
It’s still unclear whether any action will be taken. Republican reaction to proposed legislation has varied from dismissing Democratic proposals to writing their own legislation.
The Associated Press reported that both Democratic and Republican proposals are expected to fail.
“There are a lot of people on one side who want all guns to be under wraps and there are a lot of people who don’t want any laws,” said Lauren Adie, a Colby-Sawyer College nursing student. “I would hope that a compromise could be reached.”
Jeff Adie, a Newbury real estate agent, said he agrees with proposals to keep people on the no-fly list from purchasing a gun. Lauren also agrees with expanded background checks.
But the two are wary of claims that such ideas would reduce the number of shootings.
“You’re not going to stop all instances of gun violence. You’re just not,” said Jeff Adie, who pointed to strict gun laws and high crime areas like Chicago as an example.
Townshend, Vt., resident Sandy Judd said something has to be done to control firearms. Judd, who was visiting Norwich on Sunday, worried purchasing guns is too easy. She also wants to see assault weapons banned.
“I think a lot more should be done than has been done,” Judd said at a community forum on criminal justice reform. “I thought that long before this shooting.”
She’s pessimistic anything will be done “in the near future,” however, and said the political climate seems to be too toxic to handle change.
Nick Clark, a Norwich resident and Vermont House candidate, said the people of northern New England are usually very responsible gun owners. Guns are a tool, but they should be regulated, he said.
“It’s not that guns are necessarily evil,” he said before the forum on Sunday, “but when you get into military-grade or high-capacity (magazines), you don’t need that as a private citizen.”
Assault weapons and civilian versions of the military carbines are dangerous to the public, Clark said.
While he would like to see comprehensive action at a national level, he said, Vermont legislators can also take the lead to tackle bills close to home.
GunSense Vermont hopes to enable such a discussion. The group, which formed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 in Newtown, Conn., pushed for laws during this legislative season that prevent people convicted of domestic assault, stalking, sexual assault and aggravated assault from purchasing firearms.
The law also prevents individuals with mental illness who may be a danger of themselves and to others from owning a gun.
During the next legislative term, the group hopes to lobby for universal background checks, board member Paul Regan said.
Fifty-five percent of Americans favored stricter gun control laws after the San Bernardino, Calif., shootings in December, according to Gallup Organization, a national polling group. Regan points to that metric as a sign that people are sick of the same old response to mass shootings, and said public pressure is beginning to mount.
Three Democratic candidates for governor have said they would sign universal background check legislation, Regan said.
“That would never have happened in Vermont five years ago,” he said.
Whatever path politicians choose, Lauren Adie hopes they don’t go too far. She’s grown up around guns, wants to keep target shooting and has been considering the idea of turkey hunting.
“I think responsible people like my dad and I can understand that there needs to be some laws in place,” she said. “But I don’t think it should be impossible for someone like my dad and I to come out and shoot on Father’s Day together.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.