To: The Vermont State House, The Vermont State Senate, and Governor Phil Scott
Pass H.243 - VT Safe Gun Storage Bill
It is time to take action and pass H.243 - Safe Gun Storage Bill - a common sense and effective measure to prevent gun-related death in children and youths due to accidental shooting and suicide.
Why is this important?
Do you know that Vermont has lost more than a hundred children and youths since 1987 due to gun-related accidental shootings or suicide? These losses might have been prevented if the guns they had access to had been locked away or safely stored by adult gun owners.
Under current Vermont law, if a child gains access to a firearm that has been left unsecured carelessly by its owner, and then uses that firearm to injure another person or him/herself, the owner is NOT in any way held responsible.
The proposed legislation H.243 aims to encourage safe storage of firearms in homes where children are present or may visit. A firearm owner in such a circumstance could be held responsible and charged with negligence resulting in harm. Penalties for reckless storage of a gun in these cases could include a fine or imprisonment, with provisional compassion being extended to the owner if the individual harmed with the weapon was his/her own family member.
Legislation like H.243 exist in 28 states in the United States, and have saved many children and youths’ lives. We need to make Vermont the 29th state to better protect our own children.
Under current Vermont law, if a child gains access to a firearm that has been left unsecured carelessly by its owner, and then uses that firearm to injure another person or him/herself, the owner is NOT in any way held responsible.
The proposed legislation H.243 aims to encourage safe storage of firearms in homes where children are present or may visit. A firearm owner in such a circumstance could be held responsible and charged with negligence resulting in harm. Penalties for reckless storage of a gun in these cases could include a fine or imprisonment, with provisional compassion being extended to the owner if the individual harmed with the weapon was his/her own family member.
Legislation like H.243 exist in 28 states in the United States, and have saved many children and youths’ lives. We need to make Vermont the 29th state to better protect our own children.