Dear Sen. Nitka,
I
am a resident of Chester, and am writing to you regarding the proposals
in the Senate regarding increased firearms regulation. I am extremely
concerned for the ramifications of some of these proposals. PLEASE hear
me out.
I am a retired
teacher, who chose to move to Vermont - in spite of the financial burden
on retirees compared to other states - precisely because of the life
style here. I am a fairly liberal gay man who, more than once, has
found myself a target on the streets of New York and elsewhere. To
protect myself, I carry a firearm, because I am my own best line of
defense when these incidents occur.
I
used to live in Massachusetts. In spite of currently being in the US
Coast Guard Auxiliary out of Station Burlington, with Homeland Security
Clearance, having NO criminal record of any kind, and having been
fingerprinted with the FBI no fewer than 11 times (for Coast Guard work
and during the adoption of 6 children and foster care of three others) -
the background check and license I requested there TOOK EIGHT MONTHS to
process (even though the law there said 60 day maximum). No one should
have to wait that long to exercise a Constitutional right to protect
themselves! The background check there was a total disaster. I moved to
Vermont for several reasons, but paramount was the fact that it is the
safest state in the union, and I don't have to beg for permission to
exercise my right to self defense.
In
a vacuum, Universal Background Checks seem to make sense, to weed out
those with criminal records and mental health issues, and that seems to
be driving this initiative, but there are terrible unintended
consequences:
1) The
majority of people with criminal records are non-violent offenders, most
for drug offenses, and many with marijuana convictions - ironic,
considering we have just legalized marijuana in Vermont! A background
check will not only flag these people, but will disproportionately
affect minorities who are caught up in this system (and yes, I have an
inter-racial family). Progressives are appropriately trying to seal
these types of convictions so that non-violent offenders can be
re-integrated into society and get jobs - and yet this throws that
entire effort into chaos.
2)
As a teacher, I worked frequently with Veterans, many of whom return
from overseas and are assisted with mental health counseling for PTSD.
These are men and women who know how to safely use firearms better than
most - and yet, they are precisely the ones who will be caught up in
mental health check. Are we now going to require that physicians and
counselors report the details of privileged patient-client information
to a government database?
Similarly,
the effort to raise the age for purchase to 21 is an insult to the
people who we consider old enough to vote for you at age 18. At 18,
they can join the military and carry military-grade automatics, and they
can be trusted as armed police officers in our Towns...but they would
not be able to purchase a hunting firearm in a state with a long, proud
history of hunting?!
I
realize that in the wake of the tragedy in Florida, people are emotional
and looking for "government to do something;" and yet, this is
precisely the time when legislators make poor choices. The 'crisis of
the moment" lead to the internment of Japanese-Americans in WWII, and it
lead to the Patriot Act and FISA courts - both examples of terrible
losses of Constitutional Rights as a result of an emotional reaction to
tragedy.
I am asking you to OPPOSE any effort to restrict the firearms laws here in Vermont.
Thank you,
Thomas T Simmons
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