Buying A Handgun In Vermont - Chris Cole is used to trucks, gas stations, filing cabinets and office chairs. As commissioner of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services, he is responsible for the sale of surplus state property.
There's a new line of products on the shelves these days: hundreds of confiscated and abandoned weapons. Among them are two particularly unusual items: rifles from the Second World War with the Nazi symbol Reichsadler - an eagle holding a swastika in its claws.
Buying A Handgun In Vermont
For decades, these and other weapons have piled up in police evidence rooms across the country, with no clear process for disposing of them. Some of the weapons were used to commit a crime, while some were temporarily confiscated and never returned. A new law signed in April 2018 authorized Cole's department to take control of the guns and tasked him with selling them.
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"It's an excess asset, but it's an excess asset that's a little unusual for us," Cole said last week as he showed off a drab, windowless room set up to store weapons.
The location of the room is a secret to all but a handful of government officials. Cole agreed to show it to this seven-day reporter on the condition that he not reveal its whereabouts - not even to his editors. The commissioner initially suggested there might be room for a blindfold.
There is nothing to see. The concrete walls of the room are lined with metal shelves and wooden shelves for weapons. Each weapon is marked with a white plate with a serial number and secured with an orange lanyard. To enter the room, which is secured with combination locks and keys, an alarm system and video surveillance, two authorized civil servants must be present.
Although Cole has taken every precaution to keep the weapon from escaping, he isn't too worried about thieves targeting his goods. "They're not really worth anything," he said, noting that most of the 25-gun lot sold for as little as $3,000. "Some are good, some not so good. So [buyers] roll the dice."
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Until 2018, the Office of Public Security was responsible for the storage of confiscated and abandoned firearms, and the State Treasury for their disposal. But according to Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), no treasurer has accepted that mission recently. "So all these weapons have been building up for years and years and years," said Sears, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In January 2018, Sears introduced legislation to clear the backlog and allow the Department of Buildings and General Services to sell guns to federally licensed gun dealers. These dealers will be required to complete a criminal background check on each potential retail customer.
According to Sears, his board never seriously considered destroying the weapons instead of recycling them. "At the time, we were just trying to solve the storage problem," he said.
The bill was not initially controversial, garnering support from even the staunchest of national gun rights groups. But after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida next month and the revelation of an alleged plot to kill people at Fair Haven Union High School, lawmakers have loaded the bill with controversial measures, including universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity tanks. Sears, its original sponsor, ultimately voted against the bill, but Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law in April.
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Rep. Maxine Grad (D-Moretown), chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee, said she is particularly concerned that a growing backlog could discourage local police departments from using another new law that allows them to confiscate guns from those charged or arrested for domestic abuse. According to Sarah Robinson, deputy director of the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the storage issue has also become a "huge obstacle" to consideration of another bill that would require the confiscation of guns from those granted restraining orders for alleged acts of domestic abuse.
"There are definitely people who would like a storage process that moves faster before they support it," Robinson said.
Cole insisted at the time that he was working on it. "It is much easier to pass a law than to actually implement it," he explained later.
In June, the Department of Public Safety moved 366 guns into a new secure storage room and began an email bidding process for the first batch of 25 guns. In the months that followed, Cole's department completed nine sales and disposed of 225 firearms, netting $31,514. Given the cost of running the program, Cole expects it will continue to cost the department money.
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Lot 10, now in the bidding process, includes just one gun: the first of two government-owned Mauser K98 8mm bolt-action rifles. The description on the General Buildings and Services website states that it includes “Nazi symbol with harness, bolt action, no scope A second Mauser has the same eagle emblazoned with a swastika and is expected to be auctioned at a later date.
Cole seemed uncomfortable discussing the origin of the first gun when he showed it to a reporter. "It's more of a German infantry [rifle], but I think they put a symbol..." he said, his voice trailing off.
Vermont State Police acquired the first Mauser during a 2013 arrest for growing large amounts of marijuana, according to Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Christopher Herrick. Since the owner had previous convictions for assault and robbery with a firearm, he was prohibited from possessing a weapon and was caught by the police. Herrick did not explain how the second Mauser came into his department's hands.
After announcing the announced sale of Nazi weapons, Sears said, "I would suggest they destroy it, but that's up to them."
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Now that Cole has sold off nearly two-thirds of the nation's surplus guns, he's turning his attention to county and local police force collections. In the coming months, he plans to write to each of the state's 14 county sheriffs and about 50 municipal police departments to offer to take their guns away — and determine how many they have.
Cole hopes to work with the Montpelier Police Department as it develops a system for purchasing county and local firearms. Earlier this month, Cole's department met with Sgt. Jeff Pearson, evidence room supervisor in Montpellier.
According to Pearson, he currently stocks 87 firearms. "I think it's safe to say that some of them date back to the 1990s," he said.
Pearson said he's grateful the state is willing to take them off his hands, but he has some concerns. The Department of Buildings and General Services does not want to accept weapons used in murders or suicides, or those that cannot be sold under state law.
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"That, to me, is a real point of contention because, unfortunately, suicides with firearms are very common," Pearson said, estimating that 10 to 15 percent of guns in Montpellier's possessions come from the families of suicides who don't want them. back. . "I don't think being selective is the right approach. I think there should be some mechanism to take them all - or give us another alternative."
Both sides say they look forward to resolving any differences. And others in the local police force say they can't wait to clean up their stores. The problem is especially acute for the smallest police departments, which often have the least available space in their evidence rooms and the least time to handle weapons, according to Vermont Police Chief George Markle, who heads the Vermont Association of Chiefs of Police.
The original print version of this article was titled "State Gun Trade | How Vermont State Became a Firearms Dealer"
Biography: Paul Heinz was on the staff of Seven Days News from 2012 to 2020. He worked as political editor and wrote the political column "Fair Game" before becoming a staff member.
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If you want to criticize, correct or praise our reporting, send us a letter to the editor or send us a tip. We'll look into it and report back on the results MONTPELIER - The Senate has approved a proposal that would slow down the gun purchase process in Vermont.
Almost all gun transfers in Vermont, except those involving family members or law enforcement, must go through a background check with a federally licensed gun dealer under a law signed by Gov. Phil Scott last year.
S.169 would create an additional requirement for gun transfers: after a background check is completed, the seller will be required to wait 24 hours before surrendering the gun.
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Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, framed the bill as a compromise. Advocates wanted a longer waiting period that would apply to all types of guns.
Sears became convinced that many suicides were impulsive
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