One of the reasons I love VT

[scootrd]

In our Local Paper Today  -

SWANTON — Marcel Rainville was 9 when a priest gave him his first gun, a .22-caliber pump action rifle. When he was in high school, his father gave him a 12-gauge shotgun, still stored upstairs in the home where he grew up.Every fall, Rainville — a 69-year-old Catholic priest in charge of preparing men to enter the Society of St. Edmund religious order — returns to the family farm among the rolling fields of northwestern Vermont where his father taught him to hunt.

There is no contradiction, he says, between his life of faith and his lifetime connection to firearms.

“I guess what I’m saying is that a firearm is a tool, it’s not a weapon,” Rainville said. “It’s something that we use in the context of an activity which involves family, it involves tradition. It has a lot to do with a way of life. I guess family is at the center of it.

”The right to hunt is enshrined in the Vermont Constitution; the state often considered the most liberal in the country has no state gun control laws.

You can read the Full Story here http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/viewart/20130506/NEWS02/305060003?source=nletter-top5

[Oldshooter]

There are no restrictions in Vermont on the use of concealed weapons or magazine sizes and the ability to buy assault rifles. The survey said the only reason Vermont didn’t get a perfect score was because the state didn’t have a “stand your ground” law that broadens the conditions under which people are allowed to use deadly force to protect themselves.
Vermont’s gun culture is not entirely benign. The state’s suicide rate with firearms ranks seventh in the country.

Interesting Scooter, Didn't know that. would have lost a bet had it came out that way.  Vt is a very liberal place, you'd think it was anti gun. Why do you think VT ranks 7 in suicide by firearm. (not a dig)

[scootrd]

There are no restrictions in Vermont on the use of concealed weapons or magazine sizes and the ability to buy assault rifles. The survey said the only reason Vermont didn’t get a perfect score was because the state didn’t have a “stand your ground” law that broadens the conditions under which people are allowed to use deadly force to protect themselves.
Vermont’s gun culture is not entirely benign. The state’s suicide rate with firearms ranks seventh in the country.

Interesting Scooter, Didn't know that. would have lost a bet had it came out that way.  Vt is a very liberal place, you'd think it was anti gun. Why do you think VT ranks 7 in suicide by firearm. (not a dig)

Speaking in just generalities , Vermonters are a very hardy hard working bunch of folks. However we are also a very poor tourist / service industry state. cost of living high. Housing is high , High wage jobs on average few and far between. Winters are long and can be grey sky somber.  I'm sure there are other reasons but these are probably a few contributing factors. I surmise the 7th in suicide is per capita ( we have more cows than people. So 10 suicides here may be just a blip in a larger state, but considered high per capita here. VT is quite far from anti gun. Quite a unique state and Hunting is part of our long history and heritage.

[Doublebass73]

If gun control worked New York would be peaceful and Vermont would be a bloodbath. Anyone in Vermont, whether a resident or non-resident can legally carry concealed. No permit necessary. Vermont is one of the few states that actually abide by the 2nd Amendment.

People from "away" don't understand that there is a huge divide between the 3 northern New England states and the 3 southern New England states when it comes to gun control. Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are very gun friendly, mostly rural areas. They are low crime and nice places to raise children. Mass, RI and CT on the other hand are urban, anti-gun, high crime crapholes.

[greenmtnboy]

    Got to agree Scooterd an doublebass.  We also have a Governor that says he plans on no change to our gun laws .
  Not perfect ,  But darn near it.