| Bernard -- Happy New Year from the VTFSC! This week the legislature came back for the second year of the current biennium, and we now have approximately 800 total House / Senate bills in play. As you expect, the VTFSC scrutinizes all bills for anything that touches upon our areas of interest which means any bill that touches either 2nd Amendment / Article 16 Rights or Fish & Wildlife Rights. You can see our current listing of bills we are watching here. Regarding Firearm Rights we see 6 newly submitted bills of interest/concern: - S.209 - A Ghost Gun Bill
- S.212 - Ban Open Carry of Firearms at polling places, political debates and public demonstrations
- H.525 - Allow municipalities to ban guns in specified municipal buildings
- H.559 - Voluntary Firearm Purchase License
- H.561 - Ban firearms from polling places, require lost / stolen guns be reported
- H.582 - "Assault Weapons" Ban
We will be closely monitoring these, as well as previously submitted bills, giving testimony as needed should some of these move (S.209 and H.559 will move). On the F&W side, we just made it through an exhaustive multi-year process which ended up supporting the continuance of trapping through the adoption of Best Manage Practices (BMPs), as well as the establishment of rules for the hunting of coyote with dogs. This was not a smooth process, no one got everything they wanted, and in the end game the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) seemed to go beyond their administrative purview and attempted to negate the legislative intent of allowing both practices to continue. Regarding newly submitted bills pertaining to F&W: These are not as much of a concern as the bills left over from last year that are still in play. We will keep you abreast of any developments that may arise. Without any doubt: Our Legislature has a full plate of problems they need to deal with that are infinitely more important, many of which are of their own creation, not the least of which is the Budget. Finally, and as we previously reported, the lawsuit has been filed along with our request for a Preliminary Injunction, with the State being on the hook to respond by the end of this month. I remain confident that we will win both the Magazine Ban challenge as well as the Waiting Period challenge - but courts do not move quickly. To fund that lawsuit beyond Vermont Federal Court and into and possibly beyond the 2nd Circuit, we continue to seek funds to support this cause. Thank you to all who have given; we all however know of folks who have not - and we are all in this together. Donations can be made online though VTFSC's website located at www.vtfsc.org, or through the mail by sending a check to: VTFSC Defense Fund
14 Stafford Ave
Morrisville, VT 05661-8514 Thank you for supporting the VTFSC in fighting for our Freedom and OUR Rights, and stay tuned for more updates. Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
https://www.vtfsc.com/ | 
