By Guy Page
A gun control bill purportedly for “implementing mechanisms to reduce suicide” was approved 7-3 last week by the House Human Services Committee and is up for House Judiciary Committee review Wednesday at 9 a.m.
H230 makes these claims:
- More than 700 Vermont residents died of gunshot wounds in the decade from 2011 to 2020. 88 percent of these deaths were suicide. Of all the deaths in Vermont involving firearms in 2021, 89 perceny were by suicide and 8 percent were by homicide.
- The 2021 suicide rate by all methods in Vermont was 20.3 per 100,000 persons, compared to a national rate of 14.0 per 100,000 persons. Suicide among Vermont men and boys is 50 percent higher than the national average.
- In 2021, the number of suicides in Vermont was 142, with 83 of them completed by firearm, or 58 percent.
- Children are 4.4 times more likely to die by suicide in a home with a firearm compared to a home without a firearm.
A 2014 State of Vermont report finds that education, not prohibition, is the most effective way to reduce suicide by gun, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs President Chris Bradley told House Human Services before it approved the bill by a 7-3 vote.
“This [2014 VT Dept. of Mental Health] research finds that to decrease firearm deaths by suicide the immediate focus must be on recognizing that saving the lives of gun owners is a conversation and a cause that must be shifted from firearm legislation to mental health promotion, and to communities, families and networks of friends and peers,” Bradley quoted from the study.
VTFSC supports and promotes safe gun storage, Bradley said. However, laws requiring lockups have been found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, Bradley told Human Services Feb. 21.
It’s an argument Bradley will surely make, in more detail, to House Judiciary, which focuses less on health outcomes and more on matters of criminal law.
“In the 2008 case of DC v. Heller, the Supreme Court struckdown a law which required that Firearms must be made inoperable or locked up, as these actions did not allow the use of that firearm for self-defense situations. Simply put: It is unconstitutional to force citizens to lock up their firearms, but they can voluntarily do so with education, guidance and easy access to low-cost or free locking mechanisms. It may even be worthwhile to establish a grant program for relatively inexpensive biometric locking devices,” Bradley said.
H230 flatly states its purpose: reducing suicide by reducing access to firearms.
“The purpose of this legislation is to prevent death by suicide by reducing access to lethal means of firearms. Although there are many other methods forcompleting suicide, firearms are unique in their ability to create instantaneous and irreversible outcomes. Nearly every other commonly used method for suicide has a high survivability rate. It is extremely rare for someone to survive a suicide attempt in which a firearm is used. This fact, combined with the high prevalence of firearms in Vermont, is why this method alone is being addressed by this bill.”
In practice, H230 would:
Criminalize failure to safely secure a firearm in a home where children (under age 18) could reasonably be expected to access an unsecured firearm. A sentence of up to five years could be imposed if death results from a child accessing the unsecured firearm.
Require signs at gun dealers notifying potential buyers about the law.
Allow a family or household member to ask a judge for an extreme risk protection order (ERPO), with or without notice to the respondent, prohibiting a person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving a dangerous weapon or having a dangerous weapon within the person’s custody or control. At present, only criminal justice authorities may seek ERPOs.
Impose a 72-hour waiting period on any firearms sale or transfer, following completion of the federal background check on the buyer.
Scheduled to testify on H.230 9 AM Wednesday are:
- Rep. Alyssa Black, Co-sponsor
- Erik FitzPatrick, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel
- Alison Shih, Counsel, Everytown for Gun Safety
- Chris Bradley, President, VT Federation of Sportsman Club
- Eric Davis, President, Gun Owners of Vermont
- Billy Clark, Litigation Attorney, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence – Invited
- Timothy Lueders-Dumont, Legislative & Asst. Appellate Attorney, Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs
- Rory Thibault, State’s Attorney, Washington County
- Rebecca Turner, Supervising Attorney, Appellate Division, Office of the Defender General
- Judge Thomas Zonay, Chief Superior Judge, Vermont Judiciary
H314, prohibits firearms and deadly weapons in schools and on all school property, will be reviewed, discussed, and possibly voted 3 pm Wednesday in House Education. The bill would impose a flat ban on firearms possession on all school property, not just in buildings or on school buses, as now required by law. Introduced Feb. 22 by Rep. Kate McCann (D-Montpelier), it has not yet been reviewed by any committee.
Guy Page is publisher of the Vermont Daily Chronicle. Reprinted with permission.
Wow, what a great idea. Ban firearms from school property. That sure will stop a shooter, who’s hell bent on killing, to walk away because it’s illegal to enter school grounds with a firearm. From what world did these idiots come from who make up these fantasy bills? Make sure that they put proper signage that states. “FIREARMS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY, SO NOW ONE HERE IS ARMED”.
Bravo Al, https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2023/02/10/teens-arrested-on-gun-free-chicago-train-with-rifle-pistol-n67208
Funny that suicide rates get higher the longer we have leftist commie leadership… maybe we should have D/P commie control instead of more inanimate object control. Hopefully the supreme court overturns this INFRINGEMENT like the last one.
So why is a gun control bill, citing suicide concerns, is that the only way suicide is
accomplished ? of course not, but it makes a great headline to push liberal nonsense.
So why is suicide high in Vermont, well that’s a pretty simple answer, just look at the
condition of the state, it’s in debt, real jobs nonexistent, taxes high on everything, and
millions of unpaid liabilities, that you are on the hook for, liberal pushing all sorts of
spending bills just adding fuel to the fire, and you wonder why suicide is the best and
for most the only option many in Vermont and the Nation, the problem isn’t a firearm, the
problem is the concerns that people are put in that predicament……………
Guns aren’t the problem, but it’s an option, and you legislators put people in that frame
of mind, suicide is the only way out !!
Hope you sleep well, they don’t……………………………..
You cannot take your own life, but it’s no problem for you to pay thousands of dollars to the medical industry to do it for you. Abortion at the time of birth is condoned, but not taking your own life. This legislation is just another step to the total ban on the ownership of firearms.
Exactly Steve only state sponsored suicide will be allowed. The beatings will continue until moral improves… Chicom101.
Another short-sighted demoprog proposal at “harm reduction and public health” is prohibiting possession of “weapons” on all school property. If a parent is out on the road and gets a call from school that their child is sick and needs to be picked up, if they have a “weapon” on board (and not just a firearm), are they supposed to stash it in the bushes somewhere or go home first to comply? Demoprogs sold Vermonters a bill of goods a while back in the name of “harm reduction and public health” when they proposed and implemented needle “exchange” programs. They deliberately used the word “exchange” to plant the idea that junkies could bring their old needles in and “exchange” them one-for-one for new ones. These turned out to be nothing but needle giveaway programs and the result is discarded, bloody, potentially bio-hazardous needles found everywhere, where children and pets can be exposed. That “harm reduction” effort now takes the disease risks that junkies willingly expose themselves to and brings it to the general public…that’s an odd “public health” policy.
Regarding H314: This will ensure that schools will remain soft targets for armed criminal activity and that our kids remain extremely vulnerable to injury and/or death from such activity. When such activity occurs, our legislators should be held accountable.
Regarding H230: Instead of blaming the firearms for kids committing suicide, how about blaming the confusion and uncertainties about their genders and use of pronouns that are being peddled in the public schools every day? Kids have enough stresses in their lives such as peer pressure and family dysfunctions to deal with on a daily basis. The whole “gender dysphoria” nonsense just adds to it.
Telling all the white kids that they should hate themselves because of the beliefs of earlier inhabitants of this country doesn’t boost their self-esteem much either…
They don’t care about suicide, they legalized it, physician assisted no less!
People should be asking why have Vermonters given up hope and take their lives?
What is filling the minds of our brothers and sisters?
Perhaps the biggest change we need is a new mind set, the current one is clearly not working. Why are men and boys taking their lives? Is it all the love and support they are getting from society?
Women, is this what you want for your sons, brothers and husbands?
We need to change our coarse and peach, the current direction isn’t working.
Liberals say it is always the fault of the gun ? If someone really wants to kill themselves there are many ways besides a gun. Knife in chest.., razor blade at the wrists. jump of a bridge…drive a car w/ no seat belt on at 90mph into a tree….OR! Simply buy at your neighborhod dealer & overdose-while-high on Fentanyl, which is made by China and distributed via Biden’s illogical & unimaginable OPEN BORDER mandate…..I’m on board for sensible and safe gun storage…but that is just common sense. I am sure many gun groups would agree. But as usual, Liberals seek the hidden “back door” in that if a gun owner does not comply, it will be a CRIMINAL ACT….and now the Dems can get their “wet dream”…to be able to arrest and criminally charge gun owners & remove ALL their guns…and they will likely seek to create a way to raid your house without “probable cause” or a warrant.
I was a correction officer for 20 years. We were told in training classes that if a person really wants to commit suicide there is no way to stop them. They will find a way to do it. Guns, drugs or other poisons, hanging, etc. Some would do it to get transferred to the hospital unit and some a cry for help.
Also, in regard to this bill what good does a 72-hour waiting period do when you have already passed the instant background check? Why do I have to wait 72 hours to purchase a gun when I already own one.
Making the schools gun free zones is a joke. Signs and laws are only good if people obey them. It is symbolism over substance, case in point. https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2023/02/10/teens-arrested-on-gun-free-chicago-train-with-rifle-pistol-n67208
These politicians are posers, 700 Vermont residents died of gunshot wounds in the decade from 2011 to 2020, a nine-year span. What are they doing about Fentanyl? There were 158 deaths in 2020. 210 deaths in 2021, my son was one of them. Over a nine-year span that would be about 1,890 deaths. What are they doing about it? NOTHING! They are too busy trying to cram their communist agenda down our throats to take away our Constitutional rights.
https://www.healthvermont.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/ADAP-OpioidFatalOverdoseDataBrief-202l.pdf
https://vtdigger.org/2022/04/05/210-vermonters-died-of-an-opioid-overdose-last-year-first-time-death-toll-topped-200/
https://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2022-04-12/vermont-health-officials-confront-record-number-of-opioid-overdose-deaths