Vermont Lawmaker Will Introduce Bill to Ban Carry of Semiautomatic Firearms

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Vermont Lawmaker Will Introduce Bill to Ban Carry of Semiautomatic Firearms
The Springfield Hellcat OSP is tantamount to an “assault weapon” and would be banned in certain locations if a Vermont lawmaker has his way. (Photo: True Pearce/GunsAmerica)

A Vermont lawmaker announced last week his plan to introduce legislation that would prohibit the carry, open or concealed, of semiautomatic firearms in certain locations.  

Sen. Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden) said that his bill, if passed, would ban gun owners from carrying in parks, stores, restaurants, airports, places of worship, auditoriums, theaters, childcare facilities and in public during political demonstrations.  

“Everybody’s sort of conditioned to accept the fact that in public, people are going to carry weapons that are designed to kill large numbers of human beings,” Baruth said, according to Valley News.

Gun owners would still be allowed to carry autoloading pistols and other semi-auto firearms in downtown areas and on public streets.  And, they would also be permitted to carry single-shot and single-action firearms in those areas that prohibit semi-autos.  

“I don’t think we’ve reached a consensus on banning assault weapons,” Baruth added. “But I do think we’ve reached a consensus that we don’t want them in the public square.”

Baruth apparently believes that all semiautomatic firearms are “assault weapons.”  And, it appears he is not the only lawmaker in the Legislature to hold this position.  

“It’s hard to argue why you need to carry an assault weapon at a football game,” said Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington).

Likewise, Sen. President Pro Tem Tim Ashe (D/P Chittenden), said, “I think generally speaking, people would acknowledge that the places you just described are not ones that probably are appropriate for people to bring assault weapons to.”

Opponents of the bill argue that it’s simply a way to chill the 2A rights of law-abiding citizens. 

Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex-Orleans) called it a “non-starter.” 

“They want to stop people from being able to carry guns for self protection and I can’t vote for that,” Rodgers explained.   

SEE ALSO: ‘Traitorous’ Gov. Phil Scott Catches Hell While Signing Vermont Gun Control Bills

“Taking rights away from law abiding citizens is not going to help,” he continued. “Criminals are going to carry them because they don’t care about the law.”  

Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, agreed that the bill was deeply misguided.

“Vermont needs to ban politicians who assault our Second Amendment Rights; not commonly owned firearms used by millions of people for self-defense,” he said in a statement to GunsAmerica.  

“The gun prohibition and confiscation forces will not be happy until every firearm is defined as an ‘assault weapon’ and is banned,” he added.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott has not indicated whether he will or will not support the bill, saying it was too early to make a call one way or the other.

But a spokesperson for the governor told the Valley News, “I’d reiterate that the Governor has also said he believes we need to focus on ensuring the sweeping gun safety reforms we passed last year are working well and as intended, and on addressing the root causes of violence and suicide.”

Gov. Scott signed gun-control into law, in 2018, that banned private transfers, raised the purchase age for firearms to 21, outlawed bump stocks, placed restrictions on magazine capacity (10-plus rounds for long guns, 15-plus rounds for handguns) and instituted “red-flag” confiscation orders. 

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  • Comanche October 13, 2022, 3:09 pm

    STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!
    COMANCHE OUT!!!%

  • JonsOn October 25, 2021, 4:09 pm

    So Phil wants to make it easier for mass murderers in the state of Vermont. What an idiot. While Vermont is about as leftist as you can get they have had gun laws that defy the leftist pea brain. I hope the rest of the legislature there doesn’t have their heads buried all the way up their asses.

  • Ram Muchewicz December 21, 2019, 8:01 am

    Vermont was a constitutional carry state from
    the very beginning. For a long time it was the only one.
    Then successful New York lawyers retired to Vermont,
    and realized they could subvert a basically rural
    environment, into a communist hell, that they rule

  • Cary December 20, 2019, 10:41 pm

    Is there a problem in Vermont that we aren’t aware of? As far as I can tell, VT has had the most pro-Constitutional laws concerning firearms for hundreds of years, along with some of the lowest crime rates in the nation. We use this state to compare to places like CA, NJ, Chicago and NY, who have the most stringent gun laws but yet the highest rates of violent crime across the country. The actions being proposed by the blue cancer just goes to solidify our evidence that NONE of this has to do with public safety, it is and has been about disarming the populace. And did I read correctly that the Republican governor passed “sweeping gun reforms” last year? Reforms for WHAT exactly?
    Bloomberg and Soros are bringing this to your town and mine, they poured millions into the VA elections and got the results they wanted. You want to talk about collusion, THAT was election collusion that can be proven!

  • April December 19, 2019, 1:35 pm

    Prob need to get this bozo out of office!

  • AmericanIcon December 17, 2019, 11:43 am

    How about every time an elected official proposed a ‘law’ violating his oath to the Constitution – both of his state and the United States – he’s unceremoniously removed from office to a cell awaiting trial for treason?

  • Deborah Poe December 16, 2019, 2:54 pm

    Are we also gonna ban assault knives, assault flashlights, assault cars & trucks..etc. The action verb Assault can apply to any object used in a deliberate attack to hurt or kill someone. This proposal will not apply to the criminals that have them. This proposal will only serve to protect criminals/politicians with ulterior motives.

  • chris December 16, 2019, 2:52 pm

    Doesn’t stop the bad guys because they do what they want. Oh, did i mention that a state that only allows police to carry firearms is a police state? What the hell is the idea of a single shot hand gun allowed going to matter? Seriously? It’s a pussywillow attempt to slowly get all guns out of lawful citizens hands. It’s crap. To think that our tax dollars go to pay guys like this that are supposed to represent us and it sickens me to read this garbage when our infrastructure is out of control. What the hell is the priority with these elected officials? Homeless veterans, drug abuse is rampant, failing quality of life in each state but hey, lets get our name in the paper talking about crap that’s been talked about over and over with no one with the balls to come up with a reasonable idea to address the issue. Firearms aren’t the problem. Parenting and social direction are the problem. Fix the damn schools and hold teachers and parents accountable for their kids choices i life. Then we might see things change. Oh, and Term Limits is a great idea for Congress.

  • Chuck December 16, 2019, 12:28 pm

    I wouldn’t vote for a democratic dog catcher.

  • Patrick Caruso December 15, 2019, 10:23 am

    Just vote the asses ,that are trying to take guns OUT!!!, we’re in charge!

  • Dick December 14, 2019, 3:27 pm

    Oh yay. As if someone wanting to commit a crime with these weapons would stop to read the law.

  • Quis Custodiet December 14, 2019, 3:20 pm

    Because no one needs to protect themselves from muggers, rapists armed robbers or mass shooters, who never attack in parks, stores, restaurants, airports, places of worship, auditoriums, theaters, childcare facilities and in public during ANTIFA demonstrations.

  • Dennis Ploof December 14, 2019, 11:52 am

    YEH SMART LETS HAVE MORE GUN FREE ZONES FOR CRIMINALS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF. Maybe if we can get the law abiding to lay down their guns long enough a bad guy can come into one of those gun free zones and massacre the masses. People like this are either stupid or are really Communist and are just chipping away at our 2nd Amendment one chip at a time. I believe it’s the latter. The Communist know they would have a hard time ruling with an iron fist with an armed population so they have to disarm us first and that is what this is all about. Gun owners need to get together and start voting in every election!

  • Steve December 14, 2019, 9:56 am

    Remember, when a politician with a “D” after his/her name mentions “gun safety”, they really mean 2A restrictions and or confiscation.

  • Peter Florey December 13, 2019, 6:58 pm

    So now even a DAO five shot J frame Smith & Wesson 642 is going to be classified as an “assault weapon”? That is a perfect example of why no compromise is good when it comes to constitutional rights.

  • Mark December 13, 2019, 6:25 pm

    What a idiot,just what the wack job mass shooters need……more gun free zones.This is like having a buffet handed to them.

  • Christopher Chason December 13, 2019, 5:29 pm

    Vermont is next-door to Massachusetts; I wonder if the “leadership” there has ever heard about what happened in a couple of small towns there? Lexington and Concorde? Seems the “governor” sent some heavily armed troops to take the guns away from the citizens! The People decided they were not going to give-up the guns, and a LOT of people ended-up DEAD! (The Citizens KEPT the guns, by the way!) I think there is about to be a repeat of that in Vermont AND Virginia!

  • Richard December 13, 2019, 5:29 pm

    This country is going to shit in a hand basket. Dems attack the President. Dems attack the 2nd A.

  • Boz December 13, 2019, 3:35 pm

    We are WAYYYYY beyond tar and feathers people. What’s that saying about the whites of their eyes?

  • Samuel Stephens December 13, 2019, 2:54 pm

    The way this Baruth character thinks sounds like he read ” Mein Kamph” and listened to many Joseph Stalin speech as, both took guns away from the common people to have control.

    HEIL BARUTH☠

  • skipNclair December 13, 2019, 2:04 pm

    Vermont a state with little if any gun laws, one of the few states with some commonsense left, and apparantly one that does not wish to piss on the Constitution and peoples rights. Now along comes another bozo traitior that has about as much right to hold public office as a turtle, I for one would vote for a turtle though over this scumbag. Vermont when you open the door a crack for even the least bit of legislation, soon you find there is no door left. Send this guy packing as soon as possible.

    • Quis Custodiet December 14, 2019, 3:17 pm

      99% Whitey and probably 1% of them own guns– their collective imaginations are their biggest danger.

      • AK Johnny 1 December 17, 2019, 9:02 am

        Oh please… Leave that racist crap in your outhouse.
        The constitution and the bill of rights? Covers and protects EVERY CITIZEN’S RIGHTS, regardless of color! Even YOUR worthless undeserving @ss…
        As a note, WITHOUT the bill of rights protecting your speech and the 2A to COVER that right? What you just said above? Would have got you a govt sponsored blanket party in a commie country.

      • Comanche October 13, 2022, 3:16 pm

        So tell us quis, how does it feel to be a RACIST/BIGOT MORON?
        COMANCHE OUT!!!%

  • John Bibb December 13, 2019, 1:19 pm

    ***
    A single action .45 Long Colt peacemaker holds 6 (5 if you’re smart!) very deadly rounds. And is just a tad slower to fire than semi automatic pistols are!
    ***
    Newer single action revolvers are safer and can also use speed loaders. The clown who proposed this pointless ban proposal sure doesn’t know much about pistols!
    ***
    John Bibb
    ***

    • Samuel Stephens December 13, 2019, 2:46 pm

      A 1911 is considered a SA semi-automatic. This Baruth character is a loser, he needs to be out here in Kommunist controlled Kalifornia with all of the other dingbat. Take away his paid bodyguard and let him fend for himself, just like common people have to do.

    • Tex December 13, 2019, 8:02 pm

      No such thing as a “.45 Long Colt” The caliber is .45 Colt….period. Go to a loading manual and find me the ballistic data on a “.45 Long Colt”…….Educate yourself about guns and ammunition before you embarrass us all by using incorrect verbiage. Now where is the data on the “.45 Long Colt”?

      • Archangel December 14, 2019, 10:43 pm

        Calm down there TEX.
        That round was referred to as long colt because when they first became military issue, there was a round that was shorter called the .45 S&W Schofield, even though it was only an unofficial designation by the Army quartermasters, most of us honor the quartermasters nickname out of respect.
        So TEX, next time you down an Ensure, take a chill pill along with it, long or short, it doesn’t matter.

        • chris December 16, 2019, 2:55 pm

          Yup

  • Angel Duran December 13, 2019, 12:51 pm

    All these laws are for the Law abiding only. the rest of the population can do what they want….

  • Brian December 13, 2019, 12:12 pm

    America needs to wake up to the fact that ALL politicians, including RINO’s like the governor, are the enemy of free Americans who crave absolute power over the citizens they pretend to represent.

  • Dan Martin December 13, 2019, 12:04 pm

    Oh goodie, more target rich environments for the bad guys! Laws only work when they are obeyed, good guys do, bad guys don’t, so who do you think these will effect?

  • Easy Eddie December 13, 2019, 11:35 am

    ““Everybody’s sort of conditioned to accept the fact that in public, people are going to carry weapons that are designed to kill large numbers of human beings,”

    Wrong, Phil. Everybody is sort of conditioned to accept the fact that you Democrats poison the well and foul your own nests wherever you’re found. Maybe you should just come out as a fascist, and get an honest job writing OpEds for Mother Jones and the NYT.

  • Zupglick December 13, 2019, 11:12 am

    I have two names for most politicians.
    Dumb and Dumber.

  • Michael R Stuhr December 13, 2019, 11:01 am

    And the big difference between these Democrat leaders and those all across America?………NONE.

    If this is what you want, and many of you do, this is what you should vote for.

    When they finally retake the oval office this is what we can expect.
    All you Democrat gun owners, hunters and sportsmen who vote for them will get what you deserve. Bad thing is you will take us with you.

  • BA December 13, 2019, 10:57 am

    (((Baruth)))… Every… Single…Time…

  • Tom Stanfa December 13, 2019, 10:53 am

    I’m really confused by this need to make laws regarding gun control. What part of murder is less of a crime when committed with a gun of any sort? I also notice these politicians are always say gun owners don’t need AR’s for anything other than to kill people. Using that analogy than you could rationalize the removal and making illegal the ownership of either a single shot weapon or otherwise. If people cared about the law we wouldn’t have the need for law enforcement or the adjective “criminal” to describe the criminal element.
    Further more you could use that same rational regarding driving, especially since driving is a privilege and not a constitutional right, that being said why do drivers need vehicles that go over 100 mph when posted speed limits do not exceed 7o mph?

  • SaveTheConstituitionFromElectedIdiots December 13, 2019, 10:51 am

    Who votes for these types of politicians? Really? We have yet another Senator who has not read the Constitution and has no understanding of the Rights granted to citizens of the United States. Baruth thinks that there is only a need to defend yourself on public streets and downtown areas. He would prevent people from having the ability to defend themselves and others in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Country.

    There needs to be some sort of intelligence test, as well as, a test that proves an elected official has an understanding of the Constitution and Bill of Rights BEFORE they can be sworn in and take their oath to uphold and defend that very same Constitution.

    Liberals like Baruth will continue to try to disarm law-abiding citizens so that only the criminals have guns and their crimes against the innocent will only increase when they know there is little chance that their victims have any means of self-defense.

    When will the insanity of the Liberal Left cease to reach new heights???

  • The SGM December 13, 2019, 10:45 am

    Another turkey politician. Just told the bad guys where the unprotected are gathering. He only sees ‘gun control’ and lacks the ability to see and understand that the bad guys, criminals, felons, mentally disturbed, etc need to be controlled with the enforcement of current laws and new if needed.

  • JungleCogs December 13, 2019, 10:23 am

    “…designed to kill large numbers of human beings.” The core falsehood in his highly uninformed premise.

  • Nicholas December 13, 2019, 10:19 am

    Every time I read one of these articles and go through the comments I note one glaring testimony; the American people are clueless as to the rule of law.
    This is a nation based in popular sovereignty with the People being the ultimate arbiters of the law. The Founders of this nation gave the people the power to handle all matters as they saw fit, not those whom they elect, appoint, or grant a limited delegated authority.
    The Grand Jury was to be under the province of the People. The court took that away sometime in the late 50’s – early 60’s. The courts began to improperly instruct the Petit Jury some years before. But the ultimate dismantling of popular sovereignty has been attained with the help of the people themselves.
    The people were failing to maintain “the Militia of the several States” that the Constitution REQUIRES. So, in 1902 the congress, using its authority under Article I, § 10, Cl. 3, granted the states permission to “keep Troops *** in time of Peace”. That body of the army came to be known as the National Guard, which can never be mistaken for Militia as it would have required amending the original Constitution in 3 places, repealing the 2nd amendment, and amending the 5th amendment. I never saw any of that happen, did you?
    No! Instead, what happened was a slow program of propaganda, which the people and their attorneys gladly participate, designed for the eventual disarmament of the public. All of that done without a valid change in the law.
    It’s not like those who wanted a disarmed and impotent public didn’t warn us. They wrote papers about how they would convince the people to enslave themselves.
    Its rather comical because instead of fighting for the revitalization of Militia, and challenging all gun control on the Law, the NRA concocted the “individual right” theory that has allowed government to chip away at our ability to protect all our rights.
    As a primer for anyone who might like to understand the topic, consider the fact that every colony that became a State had statutes defining Militia, and how it operated. The Framers of the Constitution did not institute Militia as they did the congress and president, they simply recognized Militia as they understood; “the whole people”. They gave it the ultimate authority “to execute the Laws of the Union”, and hoped that the people would maintain “A well regulated Militia being NECESSARY to the security of a free State…”

    • skipNclair December 13, 2019, 2:07 pm

      Well said, well done.

    • Shan December 13, 2019, 6:28 pm

      Very good point. I often think about what forming a citizen militia would take in these times. We would be immediately labeled right wing extremists.

  • Mike D December 13, 2019, 9:27 am

    This idiot will turn me into a criminal, as i will not give up my right to carry. These politicians won’t stop until people do what we did back in the 1700’s, which is defy them and show them we need less Govt intervention, and they need to go back to listening to the people.

  • Daryl Carpenter December 13, 2019, 9:21 am

    Another State added to my list of ‘Will Not Visit”.

  • JD December 13, 2019, 9:02 am

    Is John Rodgers political affiliation labeled correctly? It said “D” but his quote sounds like he has some common sense.

    • Winston December 13, 2019, 12:38 pm

      LOL. ‘Common sense’ in that he wants to disarm people? You are an anti-rights fascist and an enemy of the law-abiding Public.

      • Robert Messmer December 13, 2019, 7:00 pm

        Quote: “Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex-Orleans) called it a “non-starter.”

        “They want to stop people from being able to carry guns for self protection and I can’t vote for that,” Rodgers explained.” Notice he says he can’t (can not) vote for disarming people.

      • DaveGinOly December 13, 2019, 10:58 pm

        Ummm, he’s the one who said the bill is a “non-starter.” That means he’s not in favor of more gun control.

    • John Rogers December 14, 2019, 4:10 pm

      There are many “D’s” in Vermont that have some degree of common sense, It’s the progressives you have to watch out for. There are also many RINOs here, but I think that problem exists everywhere.

  • John Quirk December 13, 2019, 8:59 am

    My guess, he’s a democrat. Why are democrats against honest law abiding Americans possessing guns? What are they afraid of?

    • Winston December 13, 2019, 12:36 pm

      “Philip Brian Scott is an American politician serving as the 82nd Governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he won the 2016 general election with 52 percent of the vote. In 2018, he won re-election to a second term by a wider margin.”

      No, he is merely part of the corporate traitorous class and false GOP opposition.

  • Terry Constance December 13, 2019, 8:58 am

    The expression “You can’t fix stupid” is getting more appropriate for some of these elected clowns every day.
    Laws like this arm the criminals and disarm law abiding citizens and that’s it.
    How about a law that holds the person responsible for the crime accountable.

    There are States with laws that require life with no parole for killing a person while commuting a crime.

    When the offender arrives at the prison, the warden introduces them to the tombstone that already has their name on it and explains they will die here.
    Some have a fast lane to the death chamber which is more efficient.

  • Keith December 13, 2019, 7:42 am

    Democrats are twisted people. They truly are.

  • Mr. Sparkles December 13, 2019, 7:05 am

    Baruth sounds like a flat lander who snuck into VERMONT from out of state and thinks that now that he is there he should make it suck like other communist states.

    I laugh every time I watch “White Christmas” and Bing Crosby jokes that he is going to find something that most Vermonters haven’t seen and decides he will try to dig up a democrat. Oh, how far the state has fallen.

    • TJMatthews December 13, 2019, 3:13 pm

      I became a Vermonter in ‘76 when I took the Freeman’s Oath. I moved out West to join family when my wife passed in 2000. I would brag about my adopted state because it had no state gun laws, just municipal restrictions. It sounds like a lot has changed in two decades, sadly.

  • Greg December 13, 2019, 6:40 am

    Where do these morons come from?

    • Dano December 13, 2019, 10:04 am

      Baruth is an attorney and comes from New York. Vermont has 30 senators, 6 from Chittendon county. 23 of Vermont’s 30 elected senators are not from Vermont. The carpet baggers have invaded the state and brought their totalitarian ideas with them. The House of Reps. is similar. The democrats have taken over a super majority in both houses. Vermont has been ruined, is in debt and is trying to disarm citizens just like Virginia. If you call yourself a democrat and vote for democrats you are cutting your own throat. Democrat and freedom are like oil and water and should never be used in the same sentence. People are fleeing Vermont, a once beautiful conservative state has now gone to hell.

  • Jeremy December 12, 2019, 7:44 pm

    Will criminals also also be following these laws or are we just gonna over look that tiny detail

  • Nelson December 12, 2019, 1:04 pm

    If it passes everyone involved in makeing it so will be gone next time voting come around thats for sure

  • SuperG December 12, 2019, 10:44 am

    So he wants to ensure the victimization of the citizenry, in other words.

  • Mark N. December 12, 2019, 2:01 am

    Will banning semiautomatic firearms have any effect on reducing suicide by gun? Some how, I don’t really think so. Some people need classes in basic logic before they are allowed to propose laws that are illogical, ineffective, and ill-informed.

    • DaveGinOly December 13, 2019, 10:59 pm

      True. It’s a rare suicide that can manage a follow-up shot!

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