| Bernard - Senate Judiciary continued hearing testimony on H.230 this week, with testimony taken on Wednesday 4/12 and Thursday 4/13. Wednesday they heard from Eric Davis, president of our our ally Gun Owners of Vermont, along with three other individuals who spoke for the bill (Alyssa Black (sponsor), Rebecca Hill (UVM Children's Medical Center) and Alison Shih (shill for Everytown for Gun Safety). That testimony can be seen here. As usual, Eric did an excellent job, making great points. At 10:25 Thursday there was 15 minutes of committee discussion, which focused almost completely on sections 1 (Findings) and 2 (Legislative Purpose), with the general feeling being that both will be dropped. That was followed by testimony from Mike Ferrant (citizen), followed by Billy Clark (shill for Giffords Group). That activity can be seen here and here. Rebecca Turner of the Defender General's Office will give testimony next Wednesday (4/19) at 10:00AM, followed by former Senator John Rodgers - both of whom will be firmly against this bill. A "Mark Up" discussion is schedule for 10:45AM; there is NO mention in the agenda for a possible vote. At this point, it appears that the "Safe Storage" provision will be changed to NOT require that firearms be locked up, the title will likely change to "Negligent Storage", and there will be penalties if a firearm is left unsecured and is then used in a bad manner. We can live with that. There was also discussion on Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), and it currently appears that the committee has taken our suggestion of raising the standard of evidence in a Temporary ERPO from Preponderance to Clear & Convincing, which is good. Due Process problems remain however. There was some discussion about the Waiting Period section, but no definite direction - we however continue to maintain that a Waiting Period will be found to be unconstitutional, and we hope that section might be struck. The VTFSC remains opposed to this bill. There is no question that some version of H.230 WILL PASS, and if so we are working to be able to sustain a veto in the Senate, as the Governor has stated that he does not believe a waiting period will work and is therefore likely to veto. Your contacts into the committee and your respective Senators is making a difference, please consider forwarding this to like-minded friends and family. If you have not done so already, or even if you have, please use the new Take Action feature of the VTFSC website to contact the Senate about H.230. Thank you for reading; Thank you for your continued support of the VTFSC and our member clubs; and please consider a donation to help us help you defend our rights. 
Best Regards, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
http://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
