Last week, the House Government Operations Committee heard testimony on the three Burlington Charter change bills, House Bill 566, House Bill 567, and House Bill 568. These bills would strike a serious blow to the state’s preemption statute. The committee was originally scheduled to revisit these bills this week, but the legislation was absent from the agenda, a clear indication that your phone calls are making a difference. In addition to the actual charter change bills, House Resolution 11 was introduced to circumvent the committee process and allow municipal charter change bills to go directly to the floor for a vote.
As the Committee was debating the trio of bills last week, anti-gun legislation continued to funnel into the bill hopper at the Statehouse.
House Bill 709, sponsored by state Representatives Thomas Stevens and George Till, would require insurers to require those with a homeowner’s policy to disclose if they have firearms on the insured property. This anti-gun bill was introduced to harass and stigmatize gun owners, while providing a means to create a list and database of homeowners who have firearms and the properties at which they are located.
Despite the failed effort of Gun Sense Vermont and former New York City Mayor and Billionaire Michael Bloomberg to pass “universal” background checks last session, Rep. Till has once again introduced legislation targeting private transfers. House Bill 775 would require background checks on private transfers despite the obvious reality that criminals do not submit to background checks.
These bills and others continue to be introduced as NRA and our state association, the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, continue to fight against them.
Please contact your Representative and respectfully request him or her to vote against these bills. Don’t forget to remind them that Vermont’s gun laws are working just fine as the state has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the country. You can contact the Sargent-of-Arms at (802) 828-2228 to leave a message for your lawmaker and request a call back.
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