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House concurs in Senate changes to firearms‑relinquishment and storage procedures
Summary
The House concurred in a Senate strike‑all to H606 that consolidates and clarifies court‑ordered firearm relinquishment and storage procedures, adds third‑party storage safeguards (background checks and affidavits), requires victim notification before release, and directs the Department of Public Safety to issue model policies for law enforcement.
The House considered a Senate strike‑all to H606 and voted to concur in the Senate amendments. The bill restructures and clarifies procedures for court‑ordered firearms relinquishment and storage.
The Member from Williston described the bill’s main elements: consolidating relinquishment procedures into a single statutory location; requiring courts to hold a hearing before placing firearms with third parties and requiring third parties to submit to a background check and sign an affidavit acknowledging receipt; adding a written acknowledgement from defendants that firearms have been relinquished; requiring law enforcement to make reasonable efforts to notify victims at least 24 hours before release of relinquished firearms; permitting law enforcement or an FFL to sell firearms not claimed within 90 days of an order’s end under specified notice requirements; and extending civil and criminal immunity protections to FFLs that follow the bill’s procedures.
The measure directs the Department of Public Safety to convene the Law Enforcement Advisory Board to develop a statewide model policy and gives agencies until June 30, 2027 to adopt such policies (with a deemed‑adopt provision if they do not). Supporters described the working group that produced the recommendations as broad and inclusive of law enforcement, victim advocates and an FFL.
A Member from Montpelier said they had hoped the bill would have prohibited devices that convert semi‑automatic weapons to fully automatic fire but supported the bill as a public‑safety step.
The House’s concurrence advances the consolidated procedural framework; agencies identified in the bill will be responsible for implementing the model policy and related guidance.
