Vermont lawmakers have given their unanimous approval to two additional gun control measures. Now those are headed to Gov. Phil Scott, who has previously announced support for the bills.
S.221 and H.422 allow law enforcement officials to temporarily confiscate a gun from a person that a judge has determined poses an "extreme risk" to themselves or another person, or from the scene of an alleged domestic assault, respectively.
Sen. Dick Sears, chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, said these bills are designed to save lives.
"I would urge everyone to support this, get this bill to the governor's desk, and it's a bill that I think will make a difference," Sears said Thursday, regarding S.221.
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On Thursday, both the Senate vote on S.221 and the House vote on H.422 were unanimous in support.
Lawmakers have already passed a bill — S.55 — that expands background checks, raises the age to buy a gun to 21 years old, and bans bump stocks and large capacity magazines.
Scott supports all three bills.
"My hope is that we will have those in the very near future. My plan would be if everything goes right to have all three bills and have one signing of all three," Scott said at his press conference early Thursday afternoon.
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Because it can take up to a week for bills to formally reach the governor's desk, it's likely the public signing ceremony won't take place until later in April.
