Vermont GOP governor to sign gun restrictions
Vermont's Republican governor is set to sign the first significant gun restrictions in the state's history during a ceremony on Wednesday.
Weather permitting, Gov. Phil Scott plans to sign the bills on the Statehouse steps as supporters and opponents of gun control look on.
Scott, a gun owner, said he knows some people will be upset by the new laws, but that they will adjust when they realize the laws will not restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
The three recently-passed bills that Scott is expected to sign would require universal background checks, increase the age to buy firearms from 18 to 21 and ban high-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices known as bump stocks. Two other pieces of legislation would make it easier to take guns from people who are believed to pose a threat to themselves and others and take guns from suspects in cases of domestic violence.
Vermont's push for gun restrictions came after a Poultney teenager was arrested and charged with planning to kill as many people as possible at Fair Haven Union High School.