Vermont governor vetoes creating 24-hour wait period for handguns

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Vermont's Republican governor has vetoed a bill that would have established a 24-hour waiting period to buy handguns.

File Photo: Backdoor Survival, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Vermont's Republican governor has vetoed a bill that would have established a 24-hour waiting period to buy handguns.

The move comes just over a year after Vermont imposed its first significant gun ownership restrictions following what police say was a near-miss school shooting in the town of Fair Haven.

The waiting period bill was delivered to Gov. Phil Scott last week. He vetoed it Monday.

Proponents say such a law was needed to prevent impulsive gun purchases that can lead to self-harm and homicides.

But gun rights advocates said the measure would have been a further erosion of their rights to bear arms and it would not have accomplished its goals.

The Legislature passed the bill creating the waiting period last month.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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