Key Vt. senators accept Scott’s demand on firearm background check bill
MONTPELIER — Key members of the Vermont Senate say they’re willing to accept a compromise offered by Gov. Phil Scott on a gun-control bill he vetoed last month. The new plan would scale back SB 30, which would have closed the so-called “Charleston Loophole” by strengthening firearm background check rules.
Federal law allows gun sales to proceed if a background check takes longer than three days. As it passed the Legislature, SB 30 would have required most purchasers to actually pass a background check before receiving their gun.
Scott vetoed the bill, telling lawmakers he’d sign a version of it that lengthened the waiting time from three to seven business days. He said a 30-day or longer waiting period was not acceptable.
“I believe going from three to effectively 30 days is excessive and unreasonable for law-abiding citizens who wish to purchase a firearm for their own personal safety or for other lawful and constitutionally protected purposes,” Scott said in his letter to the Legislature.
In a Tuesday meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lawmakers aired their feelings about the demise of SB 30 and its potential path forward.
“After thinking it over and talking it over with the chair, it seemed like it was best to accept the hand that had been offered,” said Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, an outspoken supporter of new gun laws and the original sponsor of SB 30. “That’s what this draft attempts to do.”
Erik FitzPatrick, a lawyer for the Legislature, explained that the change to seven business days is the only difference between SB 30 as vetoed and the compromise.
Jaye Johnson, Scott’s legal counsel, offered her stamp of approval on behalf of her boss.
“Thank you all for this draft, which accepts the governor’s path forward for this compromise,” she said.
Last month, the Legislature approved SB 30 after a back-and-forth between the Senate and House that led to significant changes to the bill. What initially had been introduced as a bill to ban guns in hospitals and other public places morphed into legislation amending the background check system.
To expedite the rewrite process, legislators on Tuesday voted to accept a strike-all amendment to another bill, SB 4, which had originally proposed creating a two-day waiting period for firearms purchases. The Senate Judiciary Committee decided to replace the text of SB 4 with the amended text of SB 30 in order to more quickly move the bill out of panel.
The committee approved the amended gun legislation 4-1, with Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, casting the only dissenting vote.
He highlighted his distaste for a provision of the bill intended to be a compromise — allowing out-of-staters to bring high-capacity magazines into Vermont for shooting competitions.
“I remain somewhat perplexed and uncomfortable with a provision that would allow another out-of-state resident to bring a high-capacity magazine into the state,” he said. “We deny our own citizens the ability to possess the same.”
Benning’s biggest problem with the bill, he said, was a section that allows judges to temporarily seize firearms from alleged domestic abusers.
“I think it’s a precedent that we’re establishing that I fear for the future may be a stepping stone for other cases,” he said.
The new bill, SB 4, is now expected to move to the Senate floor.