Want to read MORE about what the gun control element in Vermont
has been, and is still currently, cooking up with the Charter Committee
of the Burlington City Council? Get ready for some exciting PC reading.
The Burlington gun ordinance is truly just a first attack point for a state-
wide strategy for gun bans and these committee minutes will show you.
The minutes from the later Charter Committee meetings are in a separate
attachments above and the earliest is available by the link down below.
July 15th minutes are in the left attachment, August 8th minutes in the right
attachment. The June 3rd committee meeting minutes are in the link below.
The July 15th attachment, on Page 1, has a statement that a felony in
Vermont is a crime with a with a potential sentence of more than a year.
This is incorrect. Any any criminal offense whose maximum term of
imprisonment is more than two years, for life or which may be punished
by death is a felony. Any other offense is a misdemeanor. 13 VSA. § 1.
In the June 3rd minutes, page three, you can read how Councilor Tom
Ayres questions morality of Century Arms being in Vermont and asks
if the resources used by Century Arms shouldn't be used by more
Politically Correct entities. The Burlington City Council as rulers on
morals of businesses in other counties, wanting them to fold-up?
This is not just guns in Burlington. These folks want to neuter your
Vermont Sportsmen's Bill of Rights. Once they slice and dice 24 VSA
Sections 2295 and 2291(8) your hunting, shooting, fishing, trapping,
reloading rights will be under attack all over this state. (laws below)
As reported in Seven Days Magazine several weeks ago, council
members Norm Blais and Rachel Siegel, are leading forces on gun
control for the Burlington City Council. And they have proved such.
You can contact the Burlington City Council and politiely say "No Gun Burlington Control"
Vermont's gun laws work just fine. Which is why Vermont has such a low crime rate.
mayor@burlingtonvt.gov, jshannon@burlingtontelecom.net, sharon.bushor@vtmednet.org, bkranichfeld@burlingtonvt.gov, maxwell.k.tracy@gmail.com, vbrennan@burlingtonvt.gov, rsiegel@burlingtonvt.gov, dhartnett@burlingtonvt.gov, baubin@burlingtonvt.gov, chip.mason.btv@gmail.com, NormBlaisVT@gmail.com, paulfin@sover.net, doberv@burlingtontelecom.net, pdecellesw7@aol.com, kevinwbtv@gmail.com, tayres@burlingtonvt.gov,
The two critical state laws are down below. 10 VSA Sec. 5227 defines range.
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24 § 2295. Authority of municipal and county governments to regulate firearms, ammunition, hunting, fishing and trapping
Except as otherwise provided by law, no town, city or incorporated village, by ordinance, resolution or other enactment, shall directly regulate hunting, fishing and trapping or the possession, ownership, transportation, transfer, sale, purchase, carrying, licensing or registration of traps, firearms, ammunition or components of firearms or ammunition. This section shall not limit the powers conferred upon a town, city or incorporated village under section 2291(8) of this title. The provisions of this section shall supersede any inconsistent provisions of a municipal charter. (Added 1987, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), eff. May 9, 1988.)
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24 § 2291. Enumeration of powers
For the purpose of promoting the public health, safety, welfare, and convenience, a town, city, or incorporated village shall have the following powers:
(8) To regulate or prohibit the use or discharge, but not possession of, firearms within the municipality or specified portions thereof, provided that an ordinance adopted under this subdivision shall be consistent with section 2295 of this title and shall not prohibit, reduce, or limit discharge at any existing sport shooting range, as that term is defined in 10 V.S.A. § 5227.
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10 § 5227. Sport shooting ranges; municipal and state authority
(a) "Sport shooting range" or "range" means an area designed and operated for the use of archery, rifles, shotguns, pistols, skeet, trap, black powder, or any other similar sport shooting.
(b) The owner or operator of a sport shooting range, and a person lawfully using the range, who is in substantial compliance with any noise use condition of any issued municipal or state land use permit otherwise required by law shall not be subject to any civil liability for damages or any injunctive relief resulting from noise or noise pollution, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary.
(c) If no municipal or state land use permit is otherwise required by law, then the owner or operator of the range and any person lawfully using the range shall not be subject to any civil liability for damages or any injunctive relief relating to noise or noise pollution.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the authority of a municipality or the state to enforce any condition of a lawfully issued and otherwise required permit.
(e)(1) In the event that the owner, operator, or user of a range is not afforded the protection set forth in subsection (b) or (c) of this section, this subsection shall apply. A nuisance claim against a range may only be brought by an owner of property abutting the range. The range shall have a rebuttable presumption that the range does not constitute any form of nuisance if the range meets the following conditions:
(A) the range was established prior to the acquisition of the property owned by the person bringing the nuisance claim; and
(B) the frequency of the shooting or other alleged nuisance activity at the range has not significantly increased since acquisition of the property owned by the person bringing the nuisance claim.
(2) The presumption that the range does not constitute a nuisance may be rebutted only by an abutting property owner showing that the activity has a noxious and significant interference with the use and enjoyment of the abutting property.
(f) Prior to use of a sport shooting range after dark for purposes of training conducted by a federal, state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency, the sport shooting range shall notify those homeowners and businesses with property abutting the range that have requested such notice from the range.
(g) If any subsection of this section is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect the other subsections of this section that can be given effect without the invalid subsection, and for this purpose, the subsections of this section are severable. (Added 1991, No. 20; amended 2001, No. 61, § 71, eff. June 16, 2001; 2005, No. 173 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 22, 2006.)
