At a town hall meeting in Milton Tuesday evening, Vermont House leaders got plenty of feedback about their efforts to prevent gun violence. Most of those in attendance said they don’t like the political shift in Montpelier that led both the House and Senate to pass gun-control legislation last week.
“It’s a done deal, as far as I can see,” said Lee Morgan, who said the legislature plans to force such measures through without listening to citizen feedback.
Morgan said the bills would get approval from Gov. Phil Scott, who he called “Governor Benedict Arnold” in a reference to the infamous Revolutionary War traitor. Many pro-gun speakers went out of their way to slam Scott for his recent reversal on guns, which the governor has said came about as he read an affidavit related to a recently foiled school shooting plot in Fair Haven.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) and Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton) listened quietly alongside Rep. Ben Joseph (D-North Hero) and Rep. Chris Mattos (R-Milton) on the stage in the Milton High School auditorium as speakers aired their views for an hour and a half.
About 50 people attended the meeting, including a small group of Milton High School students who opted to attend the town hall instead of a basketball game, the sounds of which echoed from down the hall.
The speakers, most of whom were middle-aged men, outlined a wide range of societal problems other than guns that have led to the recent surge in mass shootings. They also offered solutions for school safety to the politicians, who, the speakers said, are already in the process of betraying the public.
“I want to say shame on Governor Scott,” said Ed Gallo, of Richmond. He suggested Scott’s stance doesn’t honor Vermonters’ right to defend themselves with guns.
“It’s kind of convenient because he’s got an armed body guard that walks around with him,” Gallo said.
Gallo recalled growing up in Vermont, when kids would bring their deer rifles to school. He said the vice principal used to go out in the parking lot to admire students’ guns. It wasn’t seen as a danger, Gallo said, insisting that legislation controlling access to guns will not make students safer.
“I want to say shame on the Vermont legislature,” he said. “Shame on you.”
Lee Morgan’s nephew, Michael, acknowledged that an extremely small portion of the population uses guns “in a demonic nature to kill fellow humans needlessly.” The sudden focus on guns, he said, is a result of media “whipping the American populace into a frenzy about these ‘evil guns.’”
The younger Morgan was the first of many speakers to describe places of learning in military terms.
“Schools have been identified as soft targets by these abhorrent individuals,” he said, suggesting that placing armed guards at schools would “put these thugs on notice that our schools are no longer easy targets.”
Morgan said the focus on controlling guns is misguided, and the schools need to be “hardened,” or fortified, to protect against would-be shooters.
“If guns kill people, why send people with guns to war?” he said. “Why not send just the guns?” Much of the crowd erupted in applause.
The roughly half-dozen Milton High School students at the meeting didn’t applaud. They sat silently for most of the town hall as they listened to the speakers. Near the end, some of them got a turn with the microphone.
“Guns in school don’t make me feel safe,” said Ari Randall, a Milton High School student who doesn’t believe a “good guy with a gun” will stop a shooter.
“No one is that powerful and more people dying isn’t going to solve our problems,” Randall said.
Caitlyn Lamotte, a senior at the high school, said she respects the right to own guns for hunting but wants lawmakers to limit access to weapons capable of — and designed for — killing and maiming many people in a short time.
“That’s not fair to me,” she said, gesturing to the wider audience, “that because you guys want an AR-15, I’ve gotta die?”
Lamotte then turned to the lawmakers on stage.
“Please. I beg you,” she said. “This shouldn’t even be a question. I want to live.”
Milton superintendent Ann Bradshaw spoke up after the students. She responded to suggestions from other speakers that lawmakers help “harden” the schools with armed guards and other security measures.
“Yes, we could harden our schools,” she said, “But I just wonder, as I visualize Sandy Hook and the first graders in the corner, and the shooter walked in with an automatic rifle and just slaughtered them like lambs—”
She stopped suddenly because a man in the crowd shouted to correct her that the gun used to kill 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School was, in fact, semiautomatic. Bradshaw skipped to her point: “You have the right to bear arms, yes, but do people need automatic and semiautomatic weapons?”
On stage, the four representatives made a point to do more listening than talking. They refused when pressed by a member of the audience to say how they plan to vote on various gun legislation as it faces approval in the coming weeks.
“We’re not going to talk about that,” Turner said. “I want to thank you for coming. I’ve been a representative for 13 years here, and I regret that I’ve never done this before because it was enlightening.”
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
She wants to flat out ban *semiautomatic* weapons?? Probably not. Many of these politicians aren’t connecting with voters because they’re putting no effort into actually understanding wtf they’re talking about
Good for the high school students. Shame on those who laugh and cheer about the idiotic ‘send guns to war’ trope. Those folks love their access to ARs and weapons of war more than they love their children.
If anyone that was really interested in this debate took the time to check the fax they would see that these semi-automatic rifles that they would like to call weapons of war are no such thing
It is also a fact that these rifles kill less people then teens who are texting and driving and possibly under the influence of marijuana.
Are these the same legislators that just legalized marijuana that will increase the break-ins into homes by teens who will steal guns and whatever is available to have money to go buy more marijuana putting more guns on the street in the hands of criminals..
I am saddened that these lawmakers have no common sense approach to anything and have not thought out the whole process that they have instituted that will only lead to more crime in America
It is time to get drugs out of our schools and off our streets..
No I am not saying we need to pass another law because we have passed how many laws that have not stopped the drug problem we have that is so extreme in Vermont
The common sense approach is to take the steps where they are needed and that is not by adding more gun laws or taking guns away from the hard-working law-abiding tax-paying gun owners in the safest state in the nation
The good gun owners of Vermont have offered many resolutions that offer a common sense approach to ending the violence in our schools but the gun grab lawmakers with the help of Michael Bloomberg don’t want to hear them it does not fit in with their agenda
Ed Gamut, the Secret Service, all those good guys with a good, couldn’t stop Hinkley from shooting Reagan. The element of surprise is never in favor of the defender. Keep weapons of war out of the hands of the citizenry.
Richard Ley continues to throw up smoke screens. It’s the drugs. It’s texting. It’s good gun owners. Etc, etc. etc. Everything but the weapon at hand. They aren’t going into schools, churches and nightclubs with blow darts and rubber band guns, Mr. Ley. They choose ARs and semi-automatics for a reason, and that’s rapid death. Stop defending easy access to weapons of war.
Nothing proposed is going to make the public safer. The kid in Fair haven passed a background check. The FL killer passed a background check. The background check bill is a distraction. The kid in Fair Haven is likely to beat the charges and be roaming free again. He will also still pass a background check if so. The state needs to bring back the state hospital and use it with people like this.
Rep. Turner says it all when he said that he has been a rep. For 13 years and this was the first time he had attended a town meeting and listened. Thanks Rep. Turner for finally telling the truth that you have done nothing for 13 years. Its the job of reps to listen to their constituents and act on those ideas to get things done. Its time to start the republic over with new leaders that understand what their jobs are.
I keep wondering what the narrative will be when…God forbid…another mass killing takes place again, only this time with a knife taken from the family kitchen to slash up a classroom. Or the mowing down of a playground by a car taken from the family garage. Or the use of a pipe bomb from instructions taken off YouTube. Will they still blame us lawful Vermont gun owners?
Putting this much time, effort and state resources into gun owner control is naive, to put it nicely. I wonder how many REAL AND IMPORTANT problems have not been solved this legislative session because of this wasteful attempt to legislatively control over 70% of the state’s citizenry.
Free and legislatively liberal gun ownership in this state is part of the culture and going back on a promise of no new gun owner control laws to the Vermont gun owner is no small thing. The governor looked into a lot of eyes and shook a lot of hands while running when he made that promise. Mine was one of those hands he shook.
So, if he is able to so easily go back on his word on that, I wonder how easily it will be for him to go back on his word on other important things. At this point, without the credibility of his promises, he might as well be a lame duck governor.
And going back on his word will probably be his legacy, I’m afraid.
Will Waizenegger, is there some semi-automatic knife that I’m not aware of? One that can stab 1200 times in 5 minutes from multiple stories up (the Vegas shooter)? One that can unleash its twisting, tumbling action without pausing to reload? Quit throwing up smoke screens and deal with the issue at hand. Easy access to weapons of war is indefensible. The Supreme Court refused to hear a case on CT’s ban on assault rifles, meaning it’s constitutional. The Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to CA’s 10-day waiting period.. It’s constitutional. The days of common sense gun safety are coming. Be part of the solution.
A_Trout… why is it you refuse to show everyone who you are
Are you really that embarrassed by you’re comments?
I asked you previously to drop the pseudo name so we know who we are talking to.
Whatever excuses you make we know the problem is drugs and what it is doing to our teenagers because of their easy access to it now and it will be even easier after marijuana legalization takes place
We know and their formative years it destroys their minds and it leads to many of the things that are taking place in America today because of drugs
We can say it is guns or knives or cars or anything we want to point the finger at but it is obvious you will never own up to the truth.
Richard Ley, so instead of addressing my points, you focus on a screen name? And now you bring up marijuana? LOL. Another smokescreen. Keep it up.
A_Trout: a hunting shotgun loaded with buckshot is deadlier in these places than an AR-15 or other rifle. A teacher was arrested in NY for making bombs. Chemicals and cars have been used by killers. Gun control is not going to solve our problems. We need to address the underlying causes of why we have these people wishing to commit mass murder. Politicians don’t like talking about complicated problems though so I don’t expect to see much real action. I do know if the state doesn’t address our lack of a state hospital and how we commit people to one that kid in Fair Haven has a fairly good chance of walking and remaining a serious public threat. Can the legislature please fix that? I don’t want that kid on the streets.
A_Trout… you are the biggest smoke screen on this page because you and I both know that these guns you call weapons of war are no different than any other gun being sold.
If you don’t understand that then you should not be up here making the ignorant statements that you continue to make.. talk about a smoke screen.. you are either ignorant about what these guns are or you just want to carry out a false narrative.
We both know that teens texting and driving are killing more people than any of these guns… we both should know because I know the fact I’m not sure you care about the facts..
My suggestion to you is go read about the actual facts before you make responses on this page.
I think the children should be allowed to speak up too.. but not until they are educated on our constitution and understand both sides of the story about guns about the facts about guns and how more guns equals less crime because that is a fact as well.
I really admire the student from Florida where the shooting took place that actually is defending the Constitution and the right to bear arms… obviously he took enough time to learn the truth
Common sense would dictate that my rights don’t only apply when they don’t interfere with your feelings. A knife NEVER has to reload, so that kinda kills that point you were trying to make. The issue at hand is not veiled behind smoke screens as you keep saying, but that people are sick and tired of losing rights so that some people can “feel good” about doing something. Something that won’t work. For the past few weeks, especially here in Vermont the pro gun side has constantly outnumbered those calling for yet more laws. And by a vast margin. Just look at this comment section for a good example, it’s one against guns vs what? 5 of us so far that are pro gun?
Richard Ley – so let’s talk about texting, drunk driving, drug use, bombs, etc, smoking. For public health crises across the spectrum, we make attempts to reduce deaths. We institute seat belt laws. Require reporting purchases of large quantities of fertilizer. Mandate safe driving classes. We have drinking and driving & texting while driving education campaigns. We use speed zones, and many other methods for try to save lives. None of these completely eliminate accidental deaths, but they make a tremendous difference. Now look at how we deal with gun violence. We beat around the bush. Hem and haw. Throw up non-sequiturs. Make apples to oranges comparison. Engage in whataboutisms. It’s as if we can only enact a law if it is entirely perfect, and nothing else is worth doing. Heck, the CDC cannot legally study gun violence in our country.
We do everything except look at the weapons used in massacres. Fully automatic weapons of war are effectively banned in this country, and that doesn’t seem to be an infringement on people’s rights. And that’s why they are not used in massacres. So people use the next best thing. Semi-automatics like the AR. And bump stocks. Things designed to kill people quickly. Which is why I call them weapons of war, and they have no business being in the hands of the citizenry.
Gun control is never going to actually solve the problem of mass shootings, it’s only going to desecrate the natural rights of law-abiding peaceful citizens. It has been statistically proven that gun-free zones are where the vast majority of these shootings occur. This is because in reality the shooters are typically cowards and want to go to a place where self-defense is severely restricted, so they go where the most useful self-defense tool, guns, are banned. These sick people who shoot up schools don’t want a fight, that’s why they target schools, so maybe we should put armed guards/defenders in the schools or arm teachers who volunteer to be trained and armed. Maybe we actually put up a defensive fight. I’m willing to bet that the very thought of defensive measures in schools and other gun-free zones would deter probably at least %90 of the would-be shooters from actually going through with it. The other %10 would be met with deadly (if necessary) force before they even got through the doors.
Trevor, yeah, this is about abridging rights over my hurt feelings, as if someone just called me fat or said my $40 haircut looked it was cut by my kid sister.
It’s called life. You only get one. Defending easy access to weapons of war makes it much easier for someone to take life. Governor Scott has recognized this, and it’s time to get on board.
A_TROUT, you know no facts. First off, stop referencing guns as “weapons of war”. What you mention are actually banned since 1986, and no machine gun, or actual “weapons of war” are legal after 1986 manufacturing date.
Second, the ar15 is NO DIFFERENT than any semi auto firearm. In 2016, 347 people were killed with rifles. All rifle deaths totaled 347. Knives killed ten times that. A recent school attack occurred with a single person stabbing 22 people.
There are 80 million LEGAL AND LAW ABIDING gun owners in America, with over 300 million legal firearms. If the guns were an issue, you’d know it as fact, instead of your severely ill knowledged opinion.
A_Trout, did you see the article about 19 killed and 26 injured in japan? It was caused by a knife. We need to stop focusing on the weapon and focus on the person behind it. Focus on WHY people are killing. Focus on what has changed in minds of people over the years. Focus on strengthening school security. NOT taking rights away from good people. Educate yourself on our constitution and why we need to keep our 2A rights.
I cannot wrap my head around how someone thinks that passing a law and taking guns from law-abiding people is going to prevent a criminal activity. If criminals followed the law, they would not be criminals. This is only going to benefit criminals.
As for people using kids to promote anti-gun agenda. “How can you choose guns over children…” Law abiding gun owners are NOT choosing guns over children. Criminals who shoot up a school are making that decision. We care about children. We have children. We were children. It upsets us too when this happens. It also upsets us when politicians and people who are anti-gun waste time focusing on something that is not the underlying problem as this is time NOT spent addressing the real issue.
This Age restriction thing is also dangerous for 18-21 year olds. Believe it or not… not everyone in this age range still lives with their parents. They deserve the right to protect themselves when they are off on their own in the world.
Private sale background checks … It’s a broken system. Criminals are locked up, surrounded by law enforcement and they STILL get drugs into jail. Felons will steal or buy guns from the black market. All this law is going to do is make it inconvenient and expensive for good people to buy/trade guns. It’s also going to create a lot of new “criminals” out of Vermonters as they won’t go through the trouble to sell a gun to a friend. It can’t be enforced as there is no record of who owns what either. So the next logical step for anyone trying to push this law would be a gun registry. History has shown us that is a bad idea.
The 10th Amendment makes it so that states do not have to report to the feds. Dozens of states who use their own system and do not report. When a background check happens we use the federal system which is incomplete. Also the FBI has 3 days to complete their check. If they fail to process it in 3 days, it passes. Over 300,000 guns were sold in 2016 because the FBI couldn’t get to them. Plus there are thousands of scenarios (similar names, dobs, etc..) where GOOD people are incorrectly denied. There only choice is to buy private party. Before trying to make everyone use this broken system, the system itself should be fixed.
Step1: fix the state/FBI reporting
Step2: fix the 3 day delay. (improving the speed of the check)
Step3: fix incorrectly denied records
Step4: IMO this shouldn’t even be on the table (encourages gun registry), but if it does get this far it should be an online Fed Level check that is free and won’t cost Vermonters $30-100 to sell a gun to a friend
fastfalcon, you’re arguing to get rid of all laws, because what’s the point of having a law if a criminal doesn’t follow it? That’s called anarchy.
As far as the Governor shaking his hand and looking you in the eye, and then changing his mind later, that’s life. Boo hoo if it bothers your feelings. The Governor sees the world changing around him and adapts. It’s called wisdom.
I’ll take my chances with a knife, baseball bat, shotgun, colt 45, than any automatic weapon meant for mass extinction of a room full of classroom children.
The AR-15, a modern day boogyman: It’s alive, it loads, it aims, it fires. Stop the hysteria!
A_Trout:
“Will Waizenegger, is there some semi-automatic knife that I’m not aware of? One that can stab 1200 times in 5 minutes from multiple stories up (the Vegas shooter)?”
A single knife…or at least a single box cutter…is capable of killing over 3000 people within minutes in an otherwise beautiful Tuesday morning, as happened on September 11, 2001.
Your remarks show the ignorance of blaming the dumb inanimate object rather than the evil warped mind operating it. The fact is that everything…LITERALLY EVERYTHING…within arms reach can be weaponized by a warped enough mind. Everything from guns, through tools, kitchen utensils, pharmaceuticals, food, toys, pillows, cars, hands, water…all the way to the air you breathe can be turned into a deadly weapon by a warped enough mind.
LITERALLY EVERYTHING.
That is why all these proposed laws and any kind of efforts at gun owner control are absolutely stupid. NONE address the root cause of the problem. At best, they are a lazy attempt to duct tape a problem that, in fact, does not exist here in Vermont.
Attempts at gun owner control in Vermont are wasteful, expensive and dangerous. Again, imagine all the REAL problems here in Vermont that have NOT been addressed this legislative session because of stupid gun owner control legislation. That, as well as the idiotic marijuana law which this state absolutely did not need.
We really need a total overhaul of the people under the Golden Dome.
That’s a illustrative switch, Will W. Using a terrorist attack involving a plane, facilitated by a box cutter, and then bringing in unrelated marijuana policy, shows the extreme lengths ]you’ll go to to protect your easy access to weapons of war.
And yet, Trout, it still seems to be over your head. Are you saying you believe only guns can be weaponized?
Joseph, yes, I’m aware of the knife attack in Japan, the one where the person attacked a disabled person care facility. Are you using the extremely rare case of a massacre in Japan to justify policy here at home? This is known as whataboutism.
Way to go Milton! Its about time we all stood up and said enough is enough. Scott turned his back on those who elected him.
Thank you to the 2A supporters that attended this meeting. Vermonters do not want any new gun control!
Way to go Milton! The politicians should be ashamed of themselves! They are doing NOTHING to physically protect our children! This isnt about protection of schools right now and it is disgusting. DONT NEW YORK OUR VERMONT GUN RIGHTS!
Nice to see Pro2A stood up and let them know how we all feel about these rediculous proposals. I hope to see many terms end in the next election of those whom have been pushing this anti-gun agenda. Maxine Grad, Mark McDonald, Phil Scott all need to go. Legislators had better start listening to constituants instead of outside money with outside agendas.
I had the opportunity to speak last night, and would like to repeat my point. Vermont is among the safest states in the nation. If we believe that gun laws make us safe, we need to be spreading VT style gun laws across the nation, not adopting laws that have failed the people New York and Chicago.
Very good point Salem Deanjou.
http://kutv.com/news/local/student-arrested-in-st-george-bomb-threat-a-member-of-jr-rotc-researched-isis
Let me guess, banning bombs will stop the killing?
3 cheers to Lee Morgan and his nephew, also to Ed Gallo for stating the truth about guns.. It’s amazing how these non-gun owners people seem to think they know so much about guns when in reality they know s–t. I know for a fact that guns do not have brains, fingers, or even legs. Heck, I even put my guns on the porch and not one of them got up and walked away and shot anyone. You people need to realize it’s the sick mental deranged person pulling the trigger who is killing. Also, stop and think.People who want to kill will use anything they can use, knives, bombs, car’s, baseball bat anything. Vermont has changed and not for the good by outsiders. Yes, outsiders who move here to change our state. and they get into the legislation and think they know everything. I am an NRA member and support my Right to Bear Arms and as Lee Morgan said “SHAME ON YOU”!!!!
A_TROUT loves to bloviate yet refuses to acknowledge the MSM’s own complicity in making the AR-15 the gun of choice for those seeking the most media attention that can be had from a shooting. The AR15 isn’t even a blip on the FBI top crime gun list and only seems to be the gun of choice, crime wise, for those seeking the most TV coverage. If the MSM cared to minimize these events it would stop splashing the names and images of the perps ad nauseam. No name, and no images and you will see a reduction in these shootings. Of course, you will see that evil cares not about which type of tool is used as somebody will scheme up something to garner new MSM attention.
Beyond this, get one thing straight, every firearm is a derivative of a military firearm, even a muzzleloader, so go sell the whole “weapons of war” snake oil elsewhere.
Bravo to Caitlyn Lamotte for having the courage to say what she did.
Our society should no be held in fear and as hostage to a very small minority of our population who feels that they need to possess the means to kill obscene numbers of people as quickly as possible.
Our rights for reasonably peaceful schools and communities are being subverted by their insecurities and distorted thinking and their selfish, myopic definition of “freedom”.
A teen in Utah, inspired by ISIS, was found with a homemade bomb. http://kutv.com/news/local/juvenile-arrest…
Gun control will not protect our schools. These killers will use other weapons. Attacking portions of the Bill of RIghts is accomplishing nothing but angering and further dividing people. For nothing.
A deranged guy without a gun is a lot less likely to kill people than a deranged guy with an AR-15. This fact seems to be lost by all the “guns don’t kill people” parrots.
It turns out the U.S. isn’t the only nation in the world with schools. However, we are the only nation with a major school shooting problem. The main difference? Most of the rest of the world doesn’t have hundreds and hundreds of millions of firearms floating around, largely unregulated, in the hands of anyone who wants one.
The school shooting in Florida wouldn’t have happened if the other would have done their jobs in the first place