Gun control might be a non-starter under Montpelier’s golden dome this year, but that’s not stopping voters in a half-dozen Upper Valley towns from weighing in on the issue themselves.

At least six towns in the region are considering a largely symbolic resolution that instructs federal and state lawmakers to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require criminal background checks for every gun sold in the United States, and make gun trafficking a federal crime with real penalties for “straw purchasers,” or those who purchase arms for those barred from doing so.

It’s a proposition that voters in Hartland approved this morning after a tense but mostly civil Town Meeting Day floor debate about the possible merits or perils of gun control. While plenty of residents weighed in with their skepticism about the resolution — criticizing it as vague, unnecessary and a waste of time — the supporters ultimately carried the day.

“I’m tired of doing nothing, and I’m tired of our legislators being intimidated by a small, small lobby group with a lot of money,” said Michael Heaney.

Kathryn Flagg was a Seven Days staff writer from 2012 through 2015. She completed a fellowship in environmental journalism at Middlebury College, and her work has also appeared in the Addison County Independent, Wyoming Public Radio and Orion Magazine.

One reply on “In Mayor Weinberger’s Home Town, Hartland Voters Approve Gun-Control Resolution”

  1. Why don’t you ask Weinberg to define “illegal guns”? 7 Days used to ask the “hard questions”.

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