| Bernard -- Due to changes by some ISP providers like GMAIL, an Alert we sent yesterday did not make it to many, so a re-send is required. Also, we have another issue to request your action on from what was sent yesterday. I respectfully request you take a couple of minutes to use our Take Action! page to contact your Legislators about: - Keeping Salisbury Hatchery Open,
- S.209 - a "Ghost Gun" bill, and
- Preparing for our Mixer on February 20th.
Information and/or our position on each of the above topics are discussed in detail on the Take Action! page, and it will only take a minute or two to handle all of the issues you feel are required. Action Requested - Salisbury Hatchery
There is active ongoing discussions concerning the closure of this critical piece of F&W infrastructure, which we absolutely oppose. The Salisbury Fish Culture Station is THE broodstock station for Vermont, producing approximately nine million trout eggs annually for other Vermont hatcheries. Using light-controlled rooms, trout spawned at Salisbury spawn earlier in the year than normal, thereby giving more time to grow the fish, resulting in larger fish and improved survival when being stocked. First established in 1931, 93 years later Salisbury is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and predictably spawns and raises Brook, Brown, Rainbow, Steelhead and Lake Trout, all for the benefit of Vermonters. Closing Salisbury cannot help but have a severe negative effect on the currently vibrant fishing that Vermonters and non-residents enjoy, which provides significant income for the state. We OPPOSE closing Salisbury. Help Us Get That Message Across by using TAKE Action!.
S.209 - Ghost Guns The bottom line with this proposed new law is that, like it or not, a law-abiding citizen CAN build their own firearm and that firearm does NOT need to have a serial number per Federal Law and ATF Rules. We understand that un-serialized firearms are showing up more and more in crime, but we also know that serialized firearms - the type of firearm most commonly owned by the law-abiding - are also used in crime. These facts speak only to the fact that criminals want to use firearms in the crimes they commit, and that they will always be able to get firearms. We cannot support this law unless all requirements to serialize are stripped out, leaving that enforcement to the ATF. Our Law Enforcement is simply not trained in what is or is not a frame / receiver; or whether it is in a state where it can be "readily" converted; and they will never be close enough to examine a firearm to see if it is serialized or not UNLESS it is picked up in crime. As you well know, being able to see a serial number (or lack thereof) requires a person to physically hold it AND know where to look. We can tacitly support a new crime which provides a penalty for the USE of an un-serialized firearm in a FELONY crime, but the net being cast by this bill WILL ensnare citizens who are otherwise in full compliance with Federal Law and ATF rules.
We OPPOSE S.209 as written. Help Us Get That Message Across by using TAKE Action!.
VTFSC Mixer - February 20, 2024 We are looking to have a very strong turnout at out Legislative Mixer which will be held in the Statehouse Cafeteria on 2/20/2024. This will be a fun event with free food, cash bar and noteworthy speakers - and it will ALSO allow you to put your legislators on the spot to have them hear your concerns - like the issues mentioned above. PLEASE plan on attending our Mixer, and consider using TAKE Action! to contact your legislators that you are coming. Lawsuit As you might expect, the State has made several motions, one of which requested an extension of time to respond. Another request was to have our Complaint consolidated with our Request for a Preliminary Injunction (PI). If the motion to consolidate was granted (which would save the State time and money trying to figure out how to defend), it would signal that, perhaps, Judge Sessions did not give our challenges much merit. I am pleased to say that Judge Sessions denied the motion to consolidate, and you can read his 7-page decision here. If you read that, you will likely smile as I did when you read that Judge Sessions quotes the Bruen decision. Speaking generally, and knowing there may be further posturing, we will likely have a hearing in the April-May time frame on the PI (which *COULD* immediately put a stay on the enforcement of the mag ban, the waiting period, or both), and a trial in the July 2024 time frame. We could not have gotten where we are without the grassroots support that our challenges have garnered from all corners: Our Clubs, Supporting Businesses, Individuals, FFLs, and Corporate Sponsors. But: The funding need remains. 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/ | 
