I am a gun owner and I support the firearm legislation the Governor signed this spring. Two are public safety laws which enable Extreme Risk Prevention orders and temporary confiscation of guns at domestic assaults. The third law:

• expands background checks to cover most firearm transactions
• bans bump stocks
• raises purchase age to 21, or 18 with completion of a hunter safety course
• prohibits new high capacity magazines.

These regulations are not anti-gun any more than speed limits and learner’s permits are anti-car. They are reasonable and constitutional regulation of deadly weapons. The latest VPR/PBS poll in July showed 67% of Vermonters support these measures.

In addition, the state allocated money to improve school safety and to refine E-911 coverage (calls from a school building would sometimes register as the billing location or Supervisory Union office rather than the school itself.)

Because we recognize that gun violence is a result with many causes, the legislature is also attacking those causes by expanding mental health treatment and addressing childhood trauma.