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House debates sweeping firearms procedures bill; members divide question and break for caucus
Summary
Lawmakers heard second reading of H.606, a multi-part firearms package that would make firearm theft a felony, expand categories barred from possessing guns while a commitment order is in effect, and ban unregistered machine guns; members voted to divide the bill and caucused ahead of a sectional vote.
Representative Arsenal, a member from Williston, presented H.606 on the House floor as a "carefully crafted public safety bill" that seeks to balance Second Amendment protections with measures aimed at keeping guns away from people deemed dangerous.
The bill would add theft of a firearm to Vermont's grand larceny statute as a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, removing the typical misdemeanor threshold for lower-value thefts. It also raises penalties for possession of firearms by people previously convicted of certain violent crimes—escalating repeat offenses to a three-year felony—and mirrors federal prohibitions by barring possession while an individual is subject to an involuntary mental-health commitment or hospitalization order. The bill includes a court petition process for relief from those prohibitions tied to standards used under federal law and would make possession of machine guns a state crime using the federal definition and exemptions for registered pre‑1986 weapons and government agencies.
Representative Arsenal told colleagues the bill "helps improve Vermonter safety by keeping guns out of the hands of individuals who've been found by a court to be a danger to of harm to themselves or others," and walked members through statutory references and the bill's sections.
The Judiciary Committee reported H.606 out on a 6-5-0 vote after testimony from a range of witnesses, including representatives of gun-safety and gun-rights groups and state law-enforcement offices. The House moved to divide the question so members would first vote on section 3 (the provisions tied to involuntary commitment and petition pathways) and then on the remaining sections together. The Member from South Burlington moved the divisibility motion; the House agreed and then recessed for party caucuses with a sectional vote scheduled when the floor returns.
The debate and the motion to divide the bill reflect members' intent to consider the involuntary-commitment provisions separately from other criminal and machine-gun provisions. The House stood in recess for caucus, with members expected to return to vote on section 3 and then the remainder of H.606.
