Deb Billado: Sustain Gov. Scott’s gun bill veto

Editor’s note: This commentary is by Deb Billado, chairwoman of the Vermont GOP.

Last June, Governor Scott vetoed S.169, a bill to impose additional gun restrictions on Vermonters, including a 24 hour waiting period to purchase a handgun.

Deborah Billado, chair of the Vermont GOP

Now, the ball is in the court of the Legislature to decide whether to sustain or override this veto. As the Governor mentioned in his veto message, it’s imperative we focus on the root causes of violence and mental illness–not enact additional restrictions on law-abiding citizens. That’s why the Governor’s budget proposal includes investments in our mental health system and programs that work like the Zero Suicide initiative.

Here’s the reality: We need to take action to address the underlying causes before someone buys a gun and pulls the trigger — not after. And we can’t penalize the tens of thousands of law-abiding gun owners in Vermont in the process. After all, a right delayed is a right denied.

You can contact your legislators by clicking here. Please, send them an email or call them and ask them to vote to sustain the Governor’s veto on this bill, not override it.

Then, this November, let’s send them another message by electing Republican candidates who won’t pass legislation like this in the first place, and instead focus on addressing the fundamental causes of violence and mental health issues in the first place.  If you want to be one of the candidates who will join us to put an end to misguided gun legislation, click here and express your interest in running!

Image courtesy of Enoch Lai /Wikimedia Commons

2 thoughts on “Deb Billado: Sustain Gov. Scott’s gun bill veto

  1. Our Vermont Constitution describes our Natural, Inherent and Inalienable Rights. No Legislative vote and no illegal law can remove them. I will not become a serf in this State.

    Montpelier should understand Ethan Allen when he said ‘The gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills’.

    We Will Not Comply.

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