POLITICS MARCH 30, 2018 / 6:06 PM / A DAY AGO

In gun-friendly Vermont, lawmakers pass firearms control bill

Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - Vermont lawmakers gave final legislative approval on Friday to a bill that raises the legal age for buying firearms and expands background checks, becoming the latest state poised to tighten gun restrictions after last month’s Florida school massacre.

The Democrat-controlled state Senate approved the measure, S55, in a 17-13 vote, according to the online legislative record. The bill passed the state House of Representatives this week.

The measure now goes to Republican Governor Phil Scott, who has shifted his stance and voiced support for some gun controls after the arrest in February of a Vermont teenager accused of threatening to shoot up a high school. The incident came two days after a former student killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.

Scott’s support for gun controls marked a sharp switch for a governor with a 93 percent approval rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun rights advocacy group in an otherwise politically liberal state with a reputation as a pro-gun stronghold.

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