The Republican governor for the state of Vermont has just signed three new gun laws, one of which forced gun owners to get background checks for the private sale of firearms.
It also put restrictions on gun magazine sizes:
VTDIGGER – Gov. Phil Scott took to the Statehouse steps Wednesday to sign into law three bills that make historic changes to the state’s gun laws. As he walked out in front of the crowd, gun rights activists shouted “traitor,” while supporters of new legal restrictions on firearms countered, “thanks.”
The Republican governor, who as a candidate opposed new gun laws, put his signature on the three bills shortly after 2 p.m.
I won’t bore you with the details of why a new england state Republican governor would sign such legislation. So here’s the meat and bones of the three bills:
Two of the bills, S.221 and H.422, which allow law enforcement to seize firearms in certain situations from those deemed dangerous or charged with domestic assault, both gained broad support in the Democratically controlled House and Senate.
The third bill, S.55, set off protests and pleas to the governor from gun rights supporters to veto the legislation. Few Republicans voted for it.
Supporters of S.55 say the legislation’s provisions are aimed at taking guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them and reduces the “lethality” of firearms in potential violent situations.
Opponents of the bill said many of its provision are unenforceable, ineffective, and in some cases, unconstitutional, setting the stage for possible challenges in court.
Provisions of S.55 include:
• Expands background checks to private sales. The bill requires the seller and buyer to go to a federally licensed firearms dealer to conduct that check.
• Raises the age to purchase a firearm to 21, with exceptions for law enforcement and military personnel as well as those under 21 who complete a hunter’s safety course.
• Limits magazine size for handguns to 15 rounds and 10 for rifles. Magazines over those limits that people already possess are “grandfathered,” or exempt from the legislation.
• Bans bump stocks, devices that speed up the firing ability of a gun.
Whether you like or don’t like increasing the age to 21 or limiting the size of magazines, those are going to be difficult to enforce especially when you can travel so quickly out of state to get a gun or magazines.
But the big one here is the expansion of background checks to private sales. That one I expect to be the subject of a lawsuit in the courts before the day is out. Also, I’m not even sure how they are going to enforce that one either.
When was the last time you heard about a mass shooting where the gun was purchased in a private sale? Yet they believe this is going to help stop mass shootings? So many of these lawmakers and governors are a complete joke.