| Bernard - Yesterday, the VTFSC noticed that H.314 (An act relating to prohibiting firearms and deadly weapons in schools and on school property) was on the agenda in House Education, and as initially scheduled it was a walk-thru and possible vote. This would mean that without taking any testimony, this committee was poised to pass the bill. Let me repeat that, they were preparing to pass this bill without ANY testimony whatsoever, and this bill effects not only hunting, but also the lawful carrying of firearms. We already have a statute that covers firearms in schools and on school busses, and it is working and working well. While the VTFSC was able to get on the schedule, it appears that GoVT will not be allowed to give testimony, and while VTC has theoretically been allowed to speak, they are not yet on the schedule. There are two major problems with this bill: 1) Schools in Vermont own a lot of land, UVM in particular, but virtually all schools own land that would be affected, and right now - it is permissible to hunt on those lands. This bill would stop that, and this committee has no idea of the amount of land this bill would actually affect. 2) When parents go to pick up their kids at school, or have to drive across school property, they would become criminals if they inadvertently had a firearm in their car or on their person for self-defense. The current law protects our schools in a manner that does not infringe on hunting or self-defense, and it is working well. Please send an email to the following list of people (you can simply cut and paste them into an email) and use a subject line of: "NO" to H.314 jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us;
elong@leg.state.vt.us;
pconlon@leg.state.vt.us;
ebrady@leg.state.vt.us;
ctoof@leg.state.vt.us;
saustin@leg.state.vt.us;
jbrown@leg.state.vt.us;
nbrownell@leg.state.vt.us;
tbuss@leg.state.vt.us;
kmccann@leg.state.vt.us;
bminier@leg.state.vt.us;
mstone@leg.state.vt.us;
cataylor@leg.state.vt.us;
twilliams@leg.state.vt.us Once you have done that, please consider calling the Sgt at Arms at (802) 828-2228) and have them send a note to Speaker Krowinski and Chair of House Education Conlon and say: "NO" to H.314. In regards to other bills in play, the VTFSC maintains a listing of bills we are watching on our website, or you can see that list here. Thank you for your continued support of the VTFSC and our member clubs; please consider a donation to help us help you defend our rights. 
Best Regards, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
http://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
