The mass shooting in Maine this week hit close to home for many Vermont lawmakers. The deadly incident will spur a conversation about Vermont鈥檚 gun laws during the upcoming legislative session.
At a meeting of the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee on Thursday, Bennington County Sen. Dick Sears opened the hearing with a moment of silence for the victims in Lewiston, Maine.
鈥淔or me the idea that it can鈥檛 happen here is pretty foreign when it happens over in Lewiston, Maine, a town very similar to many Vermont communities, so I think a moment of silence is in order," Sears says.
Sears says he鈥檚 open to a conversation about a ban on semiautomatic rifles. But he says he鈥檚 not convinced a state-level prohibition would improve gun safety, unless surrounding states do the same.
"Unless there鈥檚 a ban in New Hampshire, unless there鈥檚 a ban in New York, wherever in the surrounding areas, it doesn鈥檛 do much,鈥� Sears says.
In an interview with 开云体育 on Friday, Sears said he wants to look at expanding the state鈥檚 red flag law. He says he also wants to ban the sale of so-called ghost guns, which are untraceable firearms that people can buy or build without a background check.
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