The Vermont Senate approved the contentious package Friday by a 17-13 vote after the House of Representatives passed it earlier. The bill needed 16 votes to pass.
On Saturday, people gathered in Montpelier, Vermont, to protest the vote, and gun rights activists handed out free rifle magazines.
“My fear is that legislatures will pass knee-jerk legislation, without any depth, without any meaning and it’s really not going to make Vermont any safer,” Rob Curtis, executive editor for firearms lifestyle magazine Recoil, told WCAX.
Curtis said he contacted firearm accessory producer Magpul Industries about the bill, and in response the company shipped overnight 1,200 30-round magazines, according to WCAX.
On March 24, survivors of the Parkland rampage led hundreds of thousands in March for Our Lives events across the country, delivering a message to lawmakers that inaction on gun violence is no longer acceptable.
Vermont is known as friendly to hunters and gun owners. Its governor, a Republican, backed the new firearms safety legislation after potential for danger moved close to home. Police foiled a school shooting plot at Fair Haven Union High School shortly after the Florida shooting.
The legislation makes exceptions for law enforcement and the military and those who have taken gun safety courses.
Source : CNN