VERMONT FEDERATION of
SPORTSMEN'S CLUBS on
GUN LEGISLATION
The Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs is an organization of clubs which has memberships with
ranks full of responsible citizens, who are parents and grandparents. We take gun safety very seriously,
which is why the federation invests so much time in the training of shooters/hunters, development of safe
ranges, training of course instructors, and the enactment of appropriate laws and regulations.
What has become clear thus far in the recent heated public discussion of recent violent crime is that
numerous factors that play a critical role in a complex problem of preventing violent crime. That said,
it is the experience of the federation that those who commit violent criminal acts do not obey laws.
Hence, the federation has long held that laws which restrict the ownership of firearms by peaceful
citizens do not deter crime and only serve to slander the vast majority of gun owners, who are by
far, responsible citizens. Such restrictive laws hand advantage to the perpetrators of violent crime.
The federation does not engage in the legislative or regulatory process in a hasty manner. We believe
that laws created in haste, particularly in the emotional aftermath immediately following a traumatic event,
usually lack the sound public policy that society has a right to demand in its laws. We continue to believe
in a deliberate legislative process.
Therefore, the federation will continue its long standing practice of being willing to offer our knowledge and
decades of experience to our state in legislative discussions on proposed legislation involving firearms.
