Vermont

Summary of State Firearms Law

Last updated April 19, 2010.

Overview

Vermont has enacted few gun violence prevention laws.  Among other things, Vermont does not:

• Require prospective purchasers of a firearm to undergo a background check prior to a private firearm transfer (i.e., a transfer by someone who is not a federally licensed firearms dealers) or otherwise regulate private sales;

• License or regulate firearms dealers;

• Prohibit the transfer or possession of assault weapons;

• Provide for the local regulation of firearms (see LCAV’s Preemption/Local Authority to Regulate Firearms & Ammunition summary); or

• Require any permit or license, which includes a background check, for the carrying of concealed firearms.  Vermont is one of only two states to allow concealed carrying without any permit or license.

Statistics

Gun Deaths in Vermont

In 2006, 54 people died from firearm-related injuries in Vermont.¹

Crime Guns in Vermont

In 2008, Vermont ranked 20th among the states in terms of number of crime guns supplied to other states per capita.²

In 2008, 185 firearms were recovered in Vermont and traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Of these firearms, 80 were originally sold by gun dealers in Vermont.³

Number of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealers in Vermont

State "Right to Bear Arms"

Vermont’s constitution provides for the keeping and bearing of arms, but permits gun regulation for public health and safety purposes.  See LCAV’s State Right to Bear Arms Provisions for more-detailed information.

Local Authority to Regulate Firearms

Vermont provides limited authority for local jurisdictions to regulate firearms in specific areas.  See LCAV’s State Preemption/Local Authority to Regulate Firearms summary for further information.

State Firearms Policies

Please note that many firearm-related laws have exceptions for military and law enforcement personnel.

Persons Prohibited from Firearm Possession

Prohibited Purchasers Generally

Federal law prohibits certain persons from purchasing or possessing firearms, such as felons, certain domestic abusers, and certain people with a history of mental illness.

In Vermont, all firearms transfers by licensed dealers are processed directly through the FBI.  Vermont has not adopted any classes of prohibited persons broader than those set forth under federal law (or made sales to those purchasers a state crime).⁵

A Vermont court may, as a condition of probation, require that an offender or juvenile offender refrain from purchasing or possessing a firearm unless granted written permission by the court, probation officer, or juvenile probation officer.⁶

Vermont has no other laws preventing the purchase or possession of firearms by:

• Violent misdemeanants;

• Persons with mental illness;

• Persons subject to domestic violence restraining orders;

• Drug or alcohol abusers; or

• Juvenile offenders.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Prohibited Purchasers for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Minimum Age to Purchase / Possess

Although federal law generally prohibits handgun possession by persons under age 18, Vermont law allows any person age 16 or older to possess a handgun without the consent of a parent or guardian.⁷

Similarly, although federal law generally prohibits sale of a handgun to a person under age 18, and prohibits licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under age 21, Vermont law allows handgun sales to anyone age 16 or older.⁸

Vermont provides no minimum age for the purchase of a handgun or for the purchase or possession of long guns, although federal age restrictions still apply.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Minimum Age to Purchase / Possess Firearms for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Domestic Violence & Firearms

Vermont does not prohibit individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition.  Vermont also has no law specifically prohibiting individuals subject to domestic violence protective orders from possessing firearms or ammunition.  Federal law, however, prohibits the purchase and possession of firearms and ammunition by certain domestic abusers.

While Vermont has no statute specifically banning gun possession by persons subject to domestic violence protective orders, protective orders for family or household members may, at the court’s discretion as it deems necessary to protect the plaintiff and/or the children, prohibit a defendant from possessing firearms.⁹

Vermont maintains automated information on criminal history records and abuse prevention orders.  Domestic violence misdemeanor convictions are flagged within criminal history records.¹⁰

Vermont has no laws requiring the removal or surrender of firearms:

• When a domestic violence restraining or protective order is issued; or

• At the scene of a domestic violence incident.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Domestic Violence and Firearms for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Disarming Prohibited Persons

Vermont has no law requiring the removal of firearms from persons who have become ineligible to possess them.

Sales & Transfers

Background Checks

Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers (but not private sellers) to initiate a background check on the purchaser prior to sale of a firearm. Federal law provides states with the option of serving as a state “point of contact” and conducting their own background checks using state, as well as federal, records and databases, or having the checks performed by the FBI using only the federal database. (Note that state files are not always included in the federal database.)

Vermont is not a point of contact state for the NICS.  Vermont has no law requiring firearms dealers to initiate background checks prior to transferring a firearm. As a result, Vermont firearms dealers must initiate the background check required by federal law by contacting the FBI directly.¹¹

Vermont does not require private sellers (sellers who are not licensed dealers) to initiate a background check when transferring a firearm.  See Regulating Guns in America:  Private Sales.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Background Checks for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Mental Health Reporting

Federal law prohibits possession of a firearm or ammunition by any person who has been “adjudicated as a mental defective” or involuntarily “committed to any mental institution.”¹² No federal law, however, requires states to report the identities of these individuals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database, which the FBI uses to perform background checks prior to firearm transfers.

There is no law in Vermont requiring the reporting of mental health information to NICS.  Vermont maintains automated information on criminal histories.  Insanity dispositions may be included in criminal histories.¹³

For general information on the background check process and categories of prohibited purchasers or possessors, see the Vermont Background Checks section and the section entitled Vermont Prohibited Purchasers Generally.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Mental Health Reporting for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Multiple Purchases / Sales of Firearms

Vermont has no law regulating sales or purchases of multiple firearms.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Restrictions on Multiple Purchases or Sales of Firearms for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Retention of Sales / Background Check Records

Vermont law requires all pawnbrokers and retail firearms dealers to keep a record book in which they record the sale of all handguns and the purchase of all second-hand handguns.¹⁴  The record must include the date of the transaction, the marks of identification on the firearm (including the manufacturer's name, the caliber, model and manufacturer's number of the firearm), and the name, address, birthplace, occupation, age, height, weight and the color of eyes and hair of the purchaser or seller.¹⁵ The purchaser or seller shall sign his or her name to the record, and the pawnbroker or firearms dealer must preserve the record book for six years after the date of last entry and make it available for inspection by law enforcement.¹⁶

See Regulating Guns in America:  Retention of Firearm Sales and Background Check Records for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Waiting Periods

Vermont has no law imposing a waiting period prior to sale of a firearm.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Waiting Periods for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Gun Dealers & Other Sellers

Dealer Regulations

Federal law requires firearms dealers to obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), although resource limitations prevent the ATF from properly overseeing all its licensees.

Vermont has no law requiring firearms dealers to obtain a state license.  However, firearms dealers are subject to state laws governing gun sales generally.

Vermont law imposes certain record-keeping requirements on all pawnbrokers and retail firearms dealers.

Vermont has no law requiring dealers to conduct a background check on prospective firearm purchasers, although the federal background check requirement applies.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Dealer Regulations for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Private Sales

Vermont does not require a background check on the purchaser of a firearm when the seller is not a licensed dealer.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Private Sales for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Gun Shows

Vermont has no laws explicitly regulating gun shows. See the Vermont Private Sales section for state laws that may apply at gun shows.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Gun Shows for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Immunity Statutes

Vermont limits the liability of sport shooting ranges.¹⁷ See the Vermont Local Authority to Regulate Firearms summary for further details.

See LCAV’s policy page on Immunity Statutes / Manufacturer Litigation for further information.

For detailed information about government and private party lawsuits against the gun industry, the status of litigation involving gun industry immunity statutes in various states, or pending gun industry immunity legislation, visit the Brady Center's Legal Action Project and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence's Gun Industry Immunity page.

Gun Owner Responsibilities

Firearms in Public Places

Concealed Weapons Permitting

Vermont has no law requiring a license or permit for a person to carry a concealed firearm in public.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Carrying Concealed Weapons for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Open Carrying

Vermont does not prohibit the open carrying of firearms in public.

Location Restrictions

Vermont prohibits a person from carrying or possessing a loaded rifle or shotgun while in a vehicle on a public highway.¹⁹ Long guns must be unloaded when transported in a motor vehicle.  This prohibition does not apply to a licensed hunter who is a paraplegic or is otherwise certified by a physician as disabled and who obtains a permit from the Fish and Wildlife Commissioner which must be attached to the hunting license.²⁰

Vermont prohibits any person from knowingly possessing a firearm within a school building or on a school bus.²¹ The state also prohibits any person from knowingly possessing a firearm on any school property with the intent to injure another person.²²

These provisions do not apply to possession of a firearm if the board of school directors (or the superintendent or principal if delegated authority to do so by the board) authorizes possession or use for specific occasions or for instructional or other specific purposes.²³

In Vermont, school boards must adopt and implement policies regarding students who bring a firearm to school or possess a firearm at school.²⁴ At a minimum these policies must provide that any student who brings a firearm to school or possesses a firearm at school shall be expelled for not less than one calendar year.²⁵ The school board may modify the expulsion on a case-by-case basis in certain circumstances.²⁶

See LCAV’s policy page on Guns in Schools for further information.

Other Location Restrictions

Vermont prohibits the possession of a firearm in a courthouse without specific authorization from the court.²⁷

Vermont also prohibits the possession of a deadly weapon into any state institution or on such grounds, without the permission of the warden or superintendent of the institution.²⁸

In addition, the state prohibits the carrying or possession of a firearm in a private preserve without written consent of the owner or person having the exclusive right to take fish or wild animals on such lands.²⁹ Possession of a firearm in the Bomoseen state game refuge is also prohibited.³⁰

Firearms are regulated in state buildings in Vermont. The Commissioner of Buildings and General Services may promulgate rules and regulations concerning firearms and access to, and conduct upon, the grounds of structures and buildings which fall within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction.³¹

A vagrant found carrying a firearm in Vermont “shall be imprisoned not more than two years nor less than six months.”³² A vagrant is defined as: “A transient person, roving from place to place and living without visible means of support, who begs, or who rides or attempts to ride on a railroad freight train or engine without the consent of the person in charge thereof, or who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling house, barn or other building without the permission of the owners or occupants thereof....”³³

Vermont has no laws specifically prohibiting firearms in:

• Parks;

• Hospitals;

• Places of worship;

• Bars or restaurants where alcohol is served;

• Sports arenas;

• Gambling facilities; or

• Polling places.

Consumer & Child Safety

Design Safety Standards for Handguns

Vermont does not specifically regulate junk guns or unsafe firearms. According to research conducted by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence (now Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence), Vermont's Attorney General may have the authority to regulate junk guns, as well as to promulgate other firearms safety standards.³⁴

See Regulating Guns in America:  Design Safety Standards for Handguns for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Locking Devices

Vermont has no law regarding locking devices for firearms.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Locking Devices for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Personalized / Owner-Authorized Firearms

Vermont does not require firearms to be personalized.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Personalized Firearms for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Child Access Prevention

Vermont has no law specifically penalizing allowing children access to firearms.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Child Access Prevention for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Classes of Weapons / Ammunition

Assault Weapons

Vermont has no law regulating assault weapons.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Assault Weapons for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines

Vermont has no law regulating large capacity ammunition magazines.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Large Capacity Ammunition Magazines for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Fifty Caliber Rifles

Vermont has no law regulating fifty caliber rifles.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Fifty Caliber Rifles for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Machine Guns / Automatic Firearms

Vermont has no law regulating machine guns.

See LCAV’s policy page on Machine Guns for further information.

Non-Powder Guns

Vermont has no law regulating non-powder guns.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Non-Powder Guns for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Ammunition Regulation

Vermont prohibits any person, firm or corporation, other than a parent or guardian, from selling or furnishing any ammunition to a minor under age 16.³⁵

Federal law, however, imposes stricter age requirements on the sale of ammunition.

Vermont does not:

• Require a license for the sale of ammunition;

• Require sellers of ammunition to maintain a record of the purchasers;

• Prohibit persons who are ineligible to possess firearms under state law from possessing ammunition, although the federal ammunition purchaser prohibitions apply; or

• Prohibit armor-piercing ammunition, although the federal prohibition on certain kinds of armor-piercing ammunition applies.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Ammunition Regulation for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Investigating Gun Crimes

Microstamping / Ballistic Identification

Vermont has no law regarding firearm microstamping or ballistic identification.

See Regulating Guns in America:  Ballistic Identification for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

Trafficking

Vermont does not specifically regulate firearms trafficking.

State Links

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)

State of Vermont, Office of the Attorney General

Vermont Department of Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Program

Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

Footnotes

^1. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2006, at http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html.

^2. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, The Movement of Illegal Guns in America: The Link between Gun Laws and Interstate Gun Trafficking 7, 24, at http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/downloads/pdf/trace_report_final.pdf.

^3. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information, ATF Firearms Trace Data Report – 2008: Vermont, at http://www.atf.gov/statistics/download/trace-data/2008/2008-trace-data-vermont.pdf.

^4. Federal firearms licensee totals for Vermont as of September 23, 2009 were provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

^5. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, 2005 62 (Nov. 2006), at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ssprfs05.pdf.

^6. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 28, § 252(b)(8), tit. 33, § 5262(b)(4).

^7. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4008.

^8. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4007. This prohibition does not apply to “an instructor or teacher who furnishes firearms to pupils for instruction and drill.” Id.

^9. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 15, § 1103(c). See also Benson v. Muscari, 769 A.2d 1291, 1298 (Vt. 2001) (concluding that tit. 15, § 1103(c)’s “general authorization for the court to make orders it deems necessary to protect plaintiff, and her child, was sufficiently broad to allow the court to prohibit defendant from possessing firearms. The court in Benson struck down protective order’s restriction on possession of “deadly weapons” as vague and overbroad, however.

^10. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, 2005 62 (Nov. 2006), at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ssprfs05.pdf.

^11. Id.

^12. 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(4).

^13. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Survey of State Procedures Related to Firearm Sales, 2005 62 (Nov. 2006), at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/ssprfs05.pdf.

^14. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4006.

^15. Id.

^16. Id.

^17. See Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 5227.

^18. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 20, § 8(b)(3)(B).

^19. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 4705(b).

^20. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 4705(e).

^21. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4004(a).

^22. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4004(b).

^23. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4004(c)(2).

^24. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 16, § 1166(b).

^25. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 16, § 1166(b)(2).

^26. Id. Technical training centers must also regulate or prohibit firearms on their premises, and the governing board's policies must meet or exceed these same requirements of Vermont Statutes Annotated title 16, § 1166 and title 13, § 4004. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 16, § 1577(4).

^27. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4016(b).

^28. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4003.

^29. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 5204.

^30. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 5226(c).

^31. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 29, § 152(a)(14).

^32. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 3905.

^33. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit.13, § 3901.

^34. The Vermont Consumer Fraud Act, Vermont Statutes Annotated title 9, § 2453.  For details, see Legal Action Project, Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, Targeting Safety (2001), at http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/reports/targetingsafety.pdf.

^35. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4007.