Hundreds protest
at Vermont capitol
By David Taube
STAFF WRITER
MONTPELIER — David Fuller, 45, of Georgia, Vt., attended his first rally Saturday, a gun-rights event on the steps of the Statehouse.
At least 400 people came, listening to speakers talk about Second Amendment rights, and many expressed opposition to proposed gun controls. Several attendees came bearing National Rifle Association hats, NRA and patriotic flags, and signs which stated anything from "Don't assault our weapons" to "Self defense is a human right."
Fuller's sign declared the Second Amendment was not open for debate.
"Why were we given the Second Amendment?" Fuller said after the event. "It has nothing to do with hunting."
As legislators evaluate proposed new gun legislation at the state and federal levels, President Barack Obama's 23 executive orders are taking hold in response to last year's school massacre in Newtown, Conn. Many gun-rights activists, however, say they find it strange they have to defend rights they already have.
At the Montpelier event, petitions circulated through the crowd.
Paul Dame, who was a Republican candidate from Chittenden County last fall for the Vermont House, was circulating a petition against a bill that his opponent, Rep. Linda Waite-Simpson, D-Essex Junction, helped to introduce. Part of the legislation, introduced as H.124, calls for banning certain ammunition clips or feeding devices that deliver more than 10 rounds.
According to his petition, the bill threatens a new barrier to carrying a firearm legally, imposes an arbitrary restriction on magazine size, and could leave police officers hesitant to seek a mental health diagnosis, among other issues.
"We must hold our representatives accountable," said Edward Wilson, director of the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, who added afterward that he was not speaking on behalf of the organization.
Sen. John Rodgers, D-Essex-Orleans, said certain arguments in favor of gun-control measures have reasoned that the Second Amendment pertains to 18th-century scenarios.
"We don't interpret Constitutional rights this way," he said. "The Second Amendment extends to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those not in existence at the time of the founding."
Rodgers, like several other speakers, drew frequent applause and shouts of approval from the crowd.
The Statehouse event was held on the same day that more than 100 rallies across the country were scheduled for a so-called Day of Resistance that claims President Obama's recent executive orders related to firearms were unconstitutional. The Montpelier event, however, was not listed on the website
www.dayofresistance.com.
Charles Link of Burlington said the speakers at the Montpelier rally were basically "preaching to the choir."
Link, a sportsman with the Green Mountain Practical Shooters Club who competes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, said recent legislative measures in New York mean that many competitions can no longer be held there.
One person at Saturday's rally in Montpelier said that the group Gun Owners of Vermont is participating in "Five Phone Calls for Freedom" on Monday and Tuesday. That's when members opposed to any new gun controls plan to flood a group of legislators with phone calls to emphasize their position.
They'll focus their calls on the three members of Vermont's congressional delegation, as well as U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Event organizer Anthony Commo of Burlington told attendees that the rally makes a difference.
"Everything that we're doing is working," he said. "They notice when you send them letters. They notice when you send emails. They notice when you call them all day long."
david.taube@timesargus.com 
