Vermont is a left-wing state with very right-wing gun laws. There are really no gun laws in Vermont. You can pretty much buy and do whatever you want. Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, sums it up best when he notes: “This is the weirdest state in the world. Up here, even the liberals have guns.” http://www.thetrace.org/2015/07/vermont-gun-rights-constitutional-carry/
Gun control advocates like to stress the strong correlation between easy access to guns and higher levels of gun violence. Vermont mucks up those statistics. In Vermont guns are easy to get but there is very little gun violence. Every year, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence creates a “Gun Laws Scorecard.” It assigns a letter grades from A to F to each state based on the strength of its gun laws. Vermont is one of 26 of the 50 states to get an “F.” It then correlates that score with the state’s death rate from guns. The result?—“Year after year, we have seen a powerful correlation: states with stronger gun laws have fewer gun deaths per capita while states with weaker laws have more gun laws.” But not in Vermont. Of the 26 states given an "F" Vermont has the lowest incidence of gun deaths. In fact, out of all 50 states, including the ones with very restrictive gun laws, Vermont ranks 37 in gun deaths. http://gunlawscorecard.org/
The NRA’s rates the strength of a state's gun laws based on four factors:
· Is a permit required to purchase a gun?
· Do firearms have to be registered?
· Do owners have to be licensed?
· Is a permit needed to carry a concealed weapon?
In every instance the answer for Vermont is an emphatic “No.” In Vermont it is even legal to carry your concealed weapon into a restaurant. www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/vermont/
For many years Vermont was the only state in the United States to have no laws at all against carrying a concealed weapon in public. Not until the 21st century did Alaska, Arizona and Wyoming join the club.
It is also legal in Vermont to buy a gun out of state and bring it back into Vermont without notifying anyone. Even non-residents can buy guns in Vermont and bring them out of state. It also legal to own an assault weapon. And, there are no waiting periods or a need to do a background check when selling between private parties.
There are SOME gun laws in Vermont, but they are so weak as to comical. According to the Vermont Attorney General:
· "It is illegal to carry a gun in a school or a school bus.” Now that is strict.
· It is also illegal to give a gun to a child under the age of sixteen except if you are their parent or an instructor, teaching the child how to shot.
· Guns are also not allowed in courthouses.
http://ago.vermont.gov/divisions/criminal-division/gun-laws.php
But although access to guns is widespread in Vermont, it is almost never touted or bragged about. Rare are bumper stickers that shout “this truck is protected by Smith and Wesson” or “I shoot first then ask questions.” Rarer still is the shotgun on a rack in a pickup truck rear window. Guns are everywhere but rarely used to make a personal or political statement. It is not a formal policy. That is just the way it is.
History likely plays a role in this lack of boasting about a fundamental Constitutional right. In Vermont, guns have been easily available since before the American Revolution. In Southern states guns were not allowed for years following the civil war. When they got the right, they felt more compelled to shout about their newfound freedoms as a badge of conservative swagger. Vermonters don’t do that.