NO GUNS ALLOWED?: A new gun control proposal in Vermont would further restrict Vermonters’ ability to carry weapons in certain locations.
The lawmaker behind a new gun law proposal tried Friday to persuade colleagues that Vermont needs a law to prevent gun owners from carrying firearms inside establishments such as hospitals, child care facilities and public buildings. Gun rights advocates say the law is unnecessary.
In a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting held over Zoom late Friday morning, Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden, the sponsor of S.30, made a case for why the state needs more gun restrictions.
“There are people who very fervently believe that it’s their constitutional right to carry a weapon into these places, and right now they can point to the fact that there is no state law against it,” he told fellow senators.
Sen. Philip Baruth, D-Chittenden
Baruth’s bill seeks to impose significant fines and/or prison time on individuals who take guns into prohibited locations specified in the legislation. State law does not currently impose penalties for such violations.
In Vermont, certain establishments may voluntarily post signs saying no guns are allowed on the premises. Gun owners who disregard the warnings may face criminal prosecution, based on current trespass laws. Under the legislation proposed by Baruth, guns would be banned from premises, and even unintentional violations would be prosecutable.
Critics say S.30 will put gun owners at liability for unnecessary prosecution. Bill Moore, firearms policy analyst for the Vermont Traditions Coalition, told True North he opposes the proposed legislation.
“It puts lawful gun owners in hazard of a criminal charge by simply walking past the sign into the hospital and not realizing that they’ve committed that infraction,” he said. “Every hospital in the state has this sign, and if you walk past it now you haven’t committed a crime.”
At one point during the committee meeting, Baruth said guns played a role in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“Guns have become an overwhelming problem in our society and in certain places and moments — you know, the Capitol insurrection being the most recent,” he said.
During the Jan. 6, the only reported gun violence incident involved Capitol Police shooting and killing an unarmed Air Force veteran.
Chris Bradley, president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, told True North on Saturday that S.30 lacks language that would distinguish between an intentional violation of the law and a mistake.
“As written, most criminal statutes have either a ‘knowing’ or an ‘intent’ clause to it such that an honest citizen may make a mistake,” he said.
According to Bradley, the bill would even criminalize individuals who accidentally bring a gun in restricted locations. If a person carrying a gun becomes unconscious or requires immediate medical help, for example, that person may unintentionally end up in a restricted area while armed, Bradley said.
He also warned that gun-free zones may become more dangerous, not less, to public safety. In fact, the Crime Prevention Research Center notes that areas where guns are prohibited have been locations for 98% of all mass shootings since 1950.
“Why is Vermont consistently one of the first or second safest states in the nation? It comes down to concealed-carry, and the fact that you may have a gun, or I may have a gun, and I may have the means to defend myself,” Bradley said.
During Friday’s hearing, Sen. Joe Benning, R-Caledonia, asked why a law is necessary for public locations when criminal prosecution is already possible for those who ignore ‘no guns allowed’ warnings.
“If they are ejected and choose to come back in, they are now violating a notice against trespass, which is, in fact, a criminal offense,” he said. ” … We’ve had two witnesses who represent gun groups say specifically that they acknowledge that a private institution has the right to ban them from bringing a weapon inside.”
Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham, agreed that trespass laws currently exist and are enforceable.
“If I put a no-trespass up on my property that says, ‘no trespass, period,’ I have the right to do that for any reason,” she said.
The lawmakers are scheduled to hear testimony on S.30 from representatives of child care facilities this Friday.
Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.
Look, Senator Baruth is frightened. He is scared. He somehow doesn’t understand that politicians, all of them, take heat from constituents that don’t like their actions in the legislature and therefore don’t smile at them. He is intimidated by Vermonters in hunting clothes and does not realize that those clothes do double duty in cold weather. He also doesn’t want to tackle some of the real problems that need to be solved, to name two: high property taxes and housing shortages. So in his frightened state he focuses on gun control of ANY kind. Remember the magazine bill? Absolutely one of the dumbest pieces of legislation ever to be passed. Enough. Baruth should “walk the gauntlet” back to New York where everything is “SAFE”.
“unintentional violations would be prosecutable” – An unintended violation in which no harm is done, no person injured – Is this guy a reincarnation of Torquemada? Baruth “made a case for why the state needs more gun restrictions” – One of his justifications is “the fact that there is no state law against it.” That’s got to top the list of absurd Progressive reasons for a law that persons with criminal intent won’t observe anyway. Disarming the law abiding shifts the balance of power toward the criminal. when I was a lad you could walk into the local hardware store and buy a gun. Military surplus stores sold them – an ’03 Springfield still wrapped up like a mummy and coated in Cosmoline cost me $40. They sold 1911s. Walk in and buy it. Now Powers that Be want more and more laws. I’ll bet that if the percentage of violent crimes committed by a perpetrator with a firearm had ever gone down after the passage of some of these laws the Progressives would make headline news out of it. I suspect, since disarming the law abiding citizen emboldens the criminal, that these laws increase the incidence of successful crime if they have any effect at all. If the Progressive laws you’re passing annoy people, have no effect or make the situation worse, STOP DOING IT!
68,000 people died of drug overdoses last year in America and press than half that died of gun violence yet guns are the problem and the war on drugs is stupid. Go figure.
Below is their game plan for all to see….
There are 8 levels of control that must be obtained before you are able to create a social state. The first is the most important.
Healthcare – Control healthcare and you control the people.
Poverty – Increase the Poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.
Debt – Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.
Gun Control – Remove the ability to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state.
Welfare – Take control of every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing, and Income)
Education – Take control of what people read and listen to – take control of what children learn in school.
Religion – Remove the belief in the God from the Government and schools.
Class Warfare – Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor
The last is their biggest weapon, American fighting American. So peace is their Kryptonite. Prosperity is their Kryptonite Strong Families are their Kryptonite, Jesus Christ is their arch enemy, the one who brings peace, love and joy. Think about that one for a moment.
We as lovers of God and our Republic could have an easy time, it would be like swimming down stream, exposing the lies and hatred, helping them collapse on their own ideals. It would be a treat to do, the best time to do this is WHEN THEY HAVE THE MAJORITY. Our weakness in numbers at this time is truly our strength……
Neil Johnson. I will! Stand with you. Beside you and will have you and your families backs. Jesus first!!
Cloward-PIiven
Interesting concept, coming from our neighbors in NH who are for the first time feeling the socialist wave, bless their hearts.
https://granitegrok.com/blog/2021/01/so-do-you-think-that-the-left-is-breaching-the-wall-were-getting-cloward-pivened-again
They explain well the chaos being brought about by regulation….I mean just keeping up with mask, no mask, business open or not……
So here we are once again getting… Cloward Plivened….by the NWO pimps, organizers, followers of Alinsky.
Amen to that, Neil.
T Y, and we have started down the same path. We need to get on the trail that will get us where we need to go, that is spelled out in your print.
Any person who walks into ANY facility with a concealed weapon and does not brandish it has no criminal intent. Any person who walks into ANY facility and brandishes a weapon, regardless if there’s a restriction of firearms in that facility, had criminal intent before entering that facility. Law abiding citizens carry for protection and have no criminal intent. A criminal will continue to carry and use the firearm regardless if they are breaking the law because their intent is to break the law.
If the Senator was inside of a hunting lodge and was frightened by hunters having firearms, would he ban firearms in hunting lodges. “THE ONLY REASON OUR GOVERNMENT WOULD WANT TO DISARM US AFTER 243 YEARS IS BECAUSE THEY ARE PLANNING ON DOING SOMETHING TO US THAT WE WOULD SHOOT THEM FOR”
Pasting my comment on another Baruth article. Applies here as well:
Quoting Baruth “I have had to walk the gauntlet from my committee room to my car past hundreds of people dressed in hunting clothes who recognized me and act aggressively towards me, in the State House,” Baruth said. “It is not a comfortable feeling for me.”
Baruth, in VT, people in hunting clothes is normal. Welcome (not) to Vermont. Being concerned about what people wear as being “frightening” is a mental disorder, psychedelic condition using his position and sucking in cohorts to his fearful cause to try and pass legislation that affects the VT populace over nothing.
If Baruth didn’t attempt to control law abiding people, this article would be mute and commenters wouldn’t be so concerned and life could go on without concern for being controlled. Baruth might desire to have a police escort whenever the sun or rain might hit his face. It’s overreach on his part and won’t have to legislate affecting the rest of us. Otherwise he has to option of moving back to the safe State of New York. And White can go back to Minnesota, Balint, return to Germany, Vermont is too dangerous.
Baruth sense of reality is so skewed and is on a power trip.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely! Sir John Dalberg-Acton.
A hedonistic lifestyle, according to Orwell, weakens people. It makes them feeble and incapable of mounting any resistance to fanatical ideologues, who desire to rule over society.”
This is so dangerous. We are governed by lunatics..and its not just one person. Author unknown
Safest, most educated group of people I’ve met wear blaze oragan. They know way more about our country and Republic than Mr. Baruth.
Baruth said, “Guns have become an overwhelming problem in our society and in certain places and moments — you know, the Capitol insurrection being the most recent,” he said.
No the overwhelming problem in our society are Communists like Baruth trying to take away our Constitutional rights.
Baruth said, “I have had to walk the gauntlet from my committee room to my car past hundreds of people dressed in hunting clothes who recognized me and act aggressively towards me, in the State House,” Baruth said. “It is not a comfortable feeling for me.”
Well Senator if you feel unsafe and uncomfortable do what I did buy a dog and a gun to protect yourself like I did.
1. So I go into a building, a school, a daycare center or hospital with no screening device and I have a well concealed firearm how does anyone know I have it.
2. Does this apply to other weapons like knives, swords and machetes.
I WILL NOT OBEY ! I WILL NOT COMPLY !
GUNS ARE NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL IN THISSTATE, PHIL BARUTH IS. hE IS ALWAYS TRYING TO MAKE A PROBLEM WHERE THERE ISN’T ANY. HE NEEDS TO CRAWL BACK UNDER WHATEVER ROCK HE SLIDERED HIS WAY OUT OF..
Somebody tell Baruth there is video of the capitol police opening doors and barricades for people to enter at the capitol. Then tell people in Burlington to start running smart people for office, not communists.
Lets see, we do have a Constitution both Federal & State versions, correct !!
These allow ” law-abiding ” citizens to carry a firearm, and one would assume
that these same citizen, do follow the laws and specifics, like no firearms being
allowed in the Statehouse, a Courthouse or a Schools and all have other sorts of
interior protection like police, guards, scanners etc, etc.
And if you own you’re own business you can display a sign stating No Firearms
allowed, all law-abiding citizens will obey and will bring there business elsewhere
and if needed a business owner can call the police, Oh wait, liberals Democrats
want to defund the police…… another genius move by the left.
So why is S.30 needed, it sounds like it’s already covered, and I haven’t seen any
type of data showing that it isn’t working. So why is Sen.Baruth pushing this
boondoggle of legislation, as we all know that criminals will not follow and laws, yes
they are already criminals, so why this !!
So what is the Senator trying to do ??, sounds like he’s trying punish legal gun owners
for breaking an ” ordinance ” with jail time and turning them into criminals, how pathetic
another attempt to fix a none problem within the state.
Maybe the Senator could find and fix the real problems we have within the state, agenda
politics……….what a joke.
I hope the Senate Judiciary Committee, sees through this farce.
Again I wonder where this is coming from? I don’t see violence increasing anywhere in Vermont with the exception of in Burlington who’s policies of allowing protests and dissent stem from the city council full of young “progressives” that want to abolish the same people that are intended to enforce the laws that they so desperately need.
Mr. Baruth is quoted on here a few days ago as saying:
“I have had to walk the gauntlet from my committee room to my car past hundreds of people dressed in hunting clothes who recognized me and act aggressively towards me, in the State House,” Baruth said. “It is not a comfortable feeling for me.”
At what point do we just say NO!, your need to take my rights away from me due to the fear that YOU have created with YOUR policies are YOUR problem.
Mr. Baruth, maybe you wouldn’t feel the way you do if you worked towards the rights of your citizens instead of trying to take them away all the time.
So, the agenda is the same as the old agenda. Are we surprised?
When are we going on the offense? See there is a problem. When the majority of two sides collude against the laws to which they were to defend, it gives us the same old results. Somebody can “stand up” in the minority and die the hero, it’s a perfect foil. A perfect foil for the majority who are not but pimps for the New World Order.
You can’t win at the hockey ice rink when all your players come from the baseball team. They are playing a different game!!!!!
There are many people that know the problems, there are many that know what to say and what not to say. There are so many programed and manipulated and some that love playing the foil.
When you see the game plan written out and followed perfectly, it’s quite easy to expose them for who they are AND their true intentions. This musician is doing it. When are we?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz3f0QA8J2Y
Vermont could flip the script. We need to get our team together.