BRATTLEBORO — Following up on Elayne Clift's call for common-sense measures to reduce the amount of gun violence in Vermont, I urge all of us to contact our legislators to support passing a law that would expand and implement background checks when a firearm is sold in Vermont.
The check would determine whether the purchaser is a dangerous felon, has a restraining order pending against him or her, or has been determined by a court to be a danger to him- or herself or to others.
All of the pieces are already in place to make background checks work: the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) data bank that contains the names of those who would be prohibited from purchasing a gun; Vermont's court system, which has the convictions and adjudications on record; and more than 300 registered gun dealers in Vermont, where the sales can take place and the background checks can be run.
Background checks won't stop all gun violence, but they will reduce the number of firearms in the hands of dangerous people and likely reduce the amount of harm in our communities. Just in September, guns were used to harm people in Vermont on at least 17 separate occasions. Some of these incidents:
• The woman who shot a man before police shot her in Bristol, reported on Sept. 4;
• The woman who had a gun held to her head during a home robbery in Barre, reported on Sept. 8;
• The suicide by gunshot in Springfield, reported on Sept. 11;
• The armed robbery in Burlington and the firearm discharge during an assault in Newport, both reported on Sept. 12;
• The man who fired 12 shots into his neighbor's living room in Shaftsbury, reported on Sept. 14;
• The man who shot a moving truck in Rutland, and the store clerk who was robbed at gunpoint in Castleton, both reported on Sept. 18;
• The man who aimed a gun at a woman as he assaulted her in St. George, reported on Sept. 19;
• The man who shot his roommate in Orange, reported on Sept. 21;
• The man who was shot in Barre, reported on Sept. 22;
• The man who shot another man twice in Morrisville, reported on Sept. 24;
• The suicide by gunshot in Bennington, reported on Sept. 25.
These terrible acts of violence affect all of us, our loved ones, and our communities. If comprehensive background checks could have prevented any of these tragedies, occurring in just one month in Vermont, the law would have been worth the effort.
Our legislators must make that effort.