When I began writing on GMD a number of years ago, as I learned the hard way, the topic of gun control was a third rail even among progressive thinkers.  

Further conversation on the subject was commonly dismissed with the slightly smug assertion that “we don’t have a gun problem here in Vermont.”

After a few tries, I learned that even pointing to the obvious: that Vermont isn’t an island, magically immune to the evils beyond its borders, was an exercise in futility.  Vermont didn’t have a gun problem and there would be no further discussion.

Well, times have definitely changed.

No one would argue that the legislative fixes to gun law that passed on Friday are perfect, but it behooves us to recognize what a significant and profoundly brave development this is in the maturing of our state.

S.55 is part of a package of gun legislation that is on the way to the governor. On Thursday, the House passed S.211, known as a “Red Flag bill,” which permits law enforcement to seize guns from a person deemed an “extreme risk” to themselves or others.  Also, Senate of Thursday approved H.422, known as “the domestic violence bill,” which sets in place a process for police to confiscate firearms from people cited or arrested on domestic violence charges.   S.221 received final approval in the House on Friday morning and H.422 passed a third and final reading later in the day in Senate.

Phil Scott, who has promised stop sign all three bills into law, deserves some extra credit for rising above NRA pressures and standing behind some commonsense measures to curb the spread of mass shootings before Vermont “has a gun problem.”  

I can’t say I’m disappointed in Franklin County Republican legislators who did not support this historic moment.  I’m not disappointed because I expected little else.  While ultimately voting against the bill, Corey Parent (R) and Lynn Dickinson (R) pushed for an amendment to the House bill  that exempts Florida-based gun manufacturer, Century Arms from the ten-round limit on the manufacture and sale of magazines if larger capacity magazines are only sold out of state.  Century Arms employs about 100 Vermonters in its Franklin County location and I am sure Parent’s 2018 bid for the senate can count on generous NRA support. 

While it seems rather immoral to export a mass shooting hazard to communities outside of the state while unequivocally recognizing it as such with an in-state prohibition, I cannot quibble with the terms under which any movement has miraculously come to pass on gun control in Vermont.

For this we have to thank the voters of tomorrow who stepped into the void and made their voices heard.