Following up on Elayne Clift's call for common-sense measures to reduce the amount of gun violence in Vermont, I urge all of us to contact our legislators to support passing a law that would expand and implement background checks when a firearm is sold in Vermont.
The check would determine whether the purchaser is a dangerous felon, has a restraining order pending against him or her, or has been determined by a court to be a danger to him- or herself or to others.
All of the pieces are already in place to make background checks work: the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) data bank that contains the names of those who would be prohibited from purchasing a gun; Vermont's court system, which has the convictions and adjudications on record; and more than 300 registered gun dealers in Vermont, where the sales can take place and the background checks can be run.
Background checks won't stop all gun violence, but they will reduce the number of firearms in the hands of dangerous people and likely reduce the amount of harm in our communities. Just in September, guns were used to harm people in Vermont on at least 17 separate occasions. Some of these incidents:...