Vermont senators hear mixed legal and safety testimony on Burlington charter change to ban guns at alcohol-serving establishments

Montpelier — The Senate Committee on Government Operations heard extensive testimony April 3 on S.131, a proposal tied to a Burlington charter amendment that would bar possession of firearms at establishments licensed to serve alcohol on their premises.

Witnesses sharply disagreed about whether the state or a municipality may adopt such a rule, and about whether the draft charter language before the committee is legally sound. Legal witnesses said courts have recognized "sensitive places" where firearms may be restricted, but legislative counsel warned the amendment's current wording is vague and likely unconstitutional as drafted.

Senior litigation attorney Billy Clark of the Giffords Law Center told the committee that state and local governments can restrict firearms in places that serve alcohol and that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bruen (2022) does not categorically bar such regulation. "Guns and alcohol do not mix," Clark said, and he pointed the panel to federal and state decisions that have sustained restrictions on firearms in locations where…