If you’re a freedom-loving Vermonter who’s been around for a few years and pays attention in the least, you’ve probably grown accustomed to ringing in the new year with a bit of dread for what inevitably occurs in Montpelier after January 1st. As surely as the days get longer, the lawmaker’s lust for control gets stronger, and like always, gun control will be at the top of the agenda again this year with 21 pieces of proposed legislation currently in play with more certainly to come.
It’s early yet, but word on the street has it that the hot ones are going to be some sort of “ghost gun” bill -this seems to be a favorite of Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Sears- and a bill detailing Martin Lalonde’s idea of a voluntary registration system where gun owners will be bribed on to a government watchlist with the promise of being allowed to circumvent the new arbitrary and unconstitutional 72-hour waiting period for all firearm transfers that they slapped on us last year.
Of course, among other tomfoolery, we see the usual proposals for an “assault weapons” ban every year and we all know that one is at the top of the wish list for demanding moms and sniveling state senators alike, but our experience has shown that they know it will be a tough sell, even with a supermajority. They will likely go after more low hanging fruit but make no mistake, nothing is ever off the table for these people – just ask your gun grabbing rep sometime “where is the line between reasonable restriction and infringement?” or, “what are some gun control laws that you would NOT support?” and their answer will tell you everything you need to know.
The larger issue than WHAT exactly they are proposing is HOW they are going about the process. It seems the entire legislative body has become so consumed with partisan politics and “sticking it to the other guy” (who usually ends up being YOU) that they will ignore any and all logical arguments if it’s not what they want to hear. And despite our best efforts to the contrary, gun control has become a partisan issue.
Modern pro-gun Democrats are reluctant to vote against any gun control now for fear of being ostracized from their party – just look what happened to now former Senator John Rodgers, a Democrat, who was the fiercest defender of second amendment rights in the building for years. Lifetime Democrat voters who have historically supported the Second Amendment are now afraid to speak out in favor of gun rights for fear of having looked like they might agree with those awful Republicans on something. And the spineless, rubber-stamp politicians who have replaced the old-guard Vermonters that once governed by our motto: “freedom and unity”, have little use for the pleas of constituents whom they view as outdated and out of touch – just like the Constitution and the Republic it protects.
When confronted with irrefutable evidence that places with easier access to firearms have lower rates of violent crime and that the mere existence of a firearm acts as a deterrent for aggression, they ignore facts and substitute their own statistics – manufactured by the paid Bloomberg shills at groups like Everytown, spun and presented in a way to sow the maximum amount of fear in the casual observer, and then repeated ad nauseum till the lie eventually becomes an accepted truth.
When shown that their proposals are in direct violation of the Constitution, they ignore multiple Supreme Court rulings and substitute their own interpretation of the Second Amendment. Worse, some like Senate Pro-Tem and majority gun-grabber-in-chief, Phil Baruth, you know – the guy who decides which bills get taken up in the Senate – has repeatedly stated that he views the recent reaffirmation of Second Amendment rights by the Supreme Court as “insane” and that he feels that it is his duty as a Senator to advance legislation that will challenge that ruling every chance he gets.
And when we explain our basic moral position that if a person has a right to their life, then they have a right to protect that life; and that a right to self-defense without immediate access to modern tools necessary to defend one’s life is no right at all; and that “modern tools of self-defense” includes military grade weaponry similar to that in possession of the most murderous organization in the history of mankind: government, all without having to ask permission…… well…… you get the idea.
The reality is that it wouldn’t matter how sound our reasoning is or how slick of a presentation we can make. The decision has already been made before we walk in the room and testimony from the gun groups is just for show – so they can say “we looked at this carefully from all sides!” But the sad reality is whatever bad ideas they come up with (and you can bet they will be bad), will ultimately have to be litigated in court, paid with donations, raised by us, from you, against a well-funded, partisan attorney general’s office (also paid for by you), who doesn’t care how long it takes or if they even win because there’s more gun control where that came from.
The only thing these people understand is power. Politicians obsessed with control have taken our inability (or unwillingness) to vote them out as a green light to run roughshod over the constitution and insert themselves into every little aspect of our lives. Senator Baruth said so himself in an interview prior to last year’s legislative session. They have purposely confused the issue of a constitutional republic vs. a full-blown democracy and are happy to act like we live in the latter, where a person’s rights are not inherent, nor protected by law, but might be granted and revoked at any time by a simple majority vote.
But fear not, good Vermonters! Despite the incessant howling of partisan circuit courts who have now been commanded by SCOTUS to do their job on the Second Amendment, victim disarmament laws continue to fall across the country in the wake of Bruen. Despite a legislative process that is mostly a façade, GoVT will continue to represent those who know that self-defense is an inalienable right not to be bartered or compromised away. And despite the fact that you reside in the New People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea (oops, I mean Vermont), you can still buy a firearm and ammunition with relative ease compared to other socialist states like New York and Commiefornia. For now.
If you want to help mitigate the damage to our rights, you can do so in just a few easy steps. Contact your reps and let them know that you don’t approve of any new gun laws and with all the other issues facing this state, that should be the LAST thing on their minds. Join your local advocacy groups like Gun Owners of Vermont and The Vermont Federation of Sportsman’s Clubs. Join BOTH organizations as paid members and DONATE to the legal defense funds to help fight these bad laws. Donate your time to help a pro-gun candidate run for office in your area. And most importantly, be a good steward of the Second Amendment. Buy a firearm and train with it; teach your children safety and respect when it comes to guns; and most importantly, help be a positive influence in the gun culture and pass these traditions on to the next generation.
In Liberty,
Eric Davis
President, Gun Owners of Vermont