MONTPELIER — The Vermont Senate on Friday advanced a firearm background check bill, SB 4, that met Gov. Phil Scott’s demands following his veto of a farther-reaching bill, SB 30.
But before doing so, the body mounted a symbolic display of opposition by voting to override Scott’s veto, even though the House is unlikely to follow suit.
“By voting to override SB 30, the Senate is sending a clear message to the governor that we are serious about gun safety legislation,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham.
The Senate voted, 21-9, to override SB 30, a bill that would close the so-called “Charleston Loophole,” requiring clean background checks for firearm purchases through federally licensed dealers.
Federal law allows gun sales to proceed if a background check takes longer than three business days.
Scott vetoed SB 30 last month, telling lawmakers he’d sign a version of it that lengthened the waiting time from three to seven business days. SB 4, which the Senate passed Friday, does exactly that.
SB 4 includes all other provisions in SB 30, including a ban on guns in hospitals and language that further codifies protections for domestic abuse victims. The bill also would allow out-of-state residents to bring high-capacity magazines into Vermont for shooting competitions, a practice outlawed in legislation signed by Scott in 2018.
“We felt that it was incredibly important for us to take a stand today and say we believe the work we did on SB 30 is the right path,” Balint said, explaining the reasoning behind overriding SB 30 while also voting out SB 4.
Despite that claim, Senate leadership does not appear keen to rally the votes needed in the House to override the governor’s veto.
SB 30 passed the House, 91-53, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto.
Scott was unwilling to budge from his seven-day compromise to 15 days, according to Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who worked to pass SB 30 and advance SB 4 as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“It became clear to me that the governor meant what he said,” Sears said, adding that no further compromise seemed tenable.
Advocates for gun safety legislation like Sen. Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, looked for a silver lining in the governor’s position.
“I will confess that my reaction initially was not positive — to put it mildly,” Baruth said of the governor’s veto. But, he added, “This governor is pre-agreeing to sign a gun safety bill. That hasn’t happened in my memory.
“So I appreciate the governor’s lack of drama and his clarity,” Baruth added.
Baruth was the original sponsor of SB 30, and sponsored additional, previously vetoed legislation that would have created a two-day waiting period for firearm purchases.
The Senate suspended its rules to expedite the passage of SB 4, approving it on second reading by a 23-7 vote and on third reading with a voice vote.
Even in its reduced form, SB 4 drew ire from the right side of the aisle.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a bill that’s going to help (end) gun violence in the state of Vermont,” said Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex/Orleans. “We just have a group of people who don’t like guns. I don’t like Brussels sprouts; I don’t write legislation canceling Brussels sprouts.”
SB 4 will now move to the House for consideration.