TOWNSHEND — Several members of Townshend's Board of Selectmen see public safety as someone else's responsibility. It is not, dear reader; it is yours, and it is mine.
As individual citizens, we are responsible for ourselves and for one another. Public safety is not a job that needs to be outsourced all of the time. It is a job that must be in-sourced. It is a job we must take upon ourselves.
Most of Vermont is rural, and rural living means there are tradeoffs in our lifestyle. We cannot, and should not, expect big-city amenities and luxuries in the woods, back roads, hamlets, or even villages of our state.
Our community firefighters, constables, emergency management, and rescue teams are citizens who take up where others are out of their depth.
There is not always a paid law-enforcement officer on the corner, so we as citizens should be able to protect and defend ourselves.
There is not always a paid firefighter waiting at the end of the driveway, so it would behoove us to know how to prevent and deter a house fire and perhaps how to use a fire extinguisher.
There is not always an ambulance on your block, so perhaps a basic first-aid course is in order.
Many private citizens take the time to train extensively in order to be able to assist our fellow Vermonters in times where paid services are not available. Each of us does what is possible within the constraints of our daily lives to be prepared to do so.
Some take a CPR course or become emergency radio operators; some become volunteer firefighters or carry jumper-cables and road flares.
Others train to safely and lawfully carry a firearm, concealed or openly.
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Those private citizens who lawfully carry firearms for defense have a responsibility, just like to everyone else, to be able to safely and responsibly wield their tool of choice.
Fire extinguishers, jumper cables, and first-aid kits are all tools that are used by brave citizens to assist those in a time of need. So are firearms.
Had Townshend's Selectboard bothered to train with their designated tool (government power) before swinging it wildly into the community, they might have discovered their July 16 ordinance banning firearms is itself illegal.
Per state law (24 V.S.A. Section 2291[8]), a municipality may not, in fact, regulate the possession of a firearm, only its discharge.
The gun-toting vigilantes that some Selectboard members fear do not care a hoot for town ordinances. They will do as they please without regard to the law - much as the Selectboard did in enacting said ordinance.
The only people who bother to read and comply with laws are those with concern enough to do so. While brutal gunmen may make headlines from time to time, we have cause to be just as concerned with those who wield other dangerous tools without proper thought, prudence, or restraint.
Townshend's attack on responsible firearm owners' rights is an attack on the entire volunteer public safety community. Local municipalities have a responsibility not to impede those who would volunteer to take up the role of protecting themselves and those around them.
Perhaps next we will see a “preemptive” ordinance banning all sharp objects from public buildings, or one requiring that all public comments be vetted through the Selectboard in writing before they may be spoken aloud.