Protesters heckle 'traitor' Vermont GOP gov after he signs gun control legislation
Facing signs that read "Not my governor" and amid taunts and jeers, Vermont GOP Gov. Phil Scott signed into law the state's first-ever sweeping gun control measures. (AP)
Amid a barrage of taunts from protesters calling him a "liar" and a "traitor," Vermont Gov. Phil Scott enacted the state's first major gun control measures during a signing ceremony at the Statehouse on Wednesday. The package of bills raises the age to buy firearms from 18 to 21, bans high-capacity magazines, and makes it easier to take guns from people considered a danger to themselves or others and from people arrested or cited for domestic assault. Under the new rules, people younger than 21 can buy a firearm only if they have completed a hunter safety course. The legislation also requires background checks for most private gun sales and bans rapid-fire devices known as bump stocks. Scott, a first-term Republican, said the recent arrest of a former student allegedly planning a mass shooting at a Vermont high school, as well as the deadly massacre at a Florida high school in February that left 17 dead, spurred him to action. But at several points, he had some trouble getting that message out. "On Feb. 16, I was in my office — " Scott said, before a protester interrupted: "Smoking a joint?" "— preparing for the day ahead, when everything changed," Scott continued, according to the Burlington Free Press. "That morning, I was handed a document containing charges against an 18-year-old outlining his detailed plan to carry out a school shooting here in Vermont."