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Read. Follow. Verify.Vermont Establishes Optional Firearms Purchase License to Exempt Buyers from 72-Hour Waiting Period
Last action · February 26, 2025: Read first time and referred to the Committee on JudiciarySponsors: Angela Arsenault and 2 others
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What This Bill Would Do
The Vermont Department of Public Safety is directed to establish a voluntary firearms licensing system, issuing two-year purchase licenses to eligible applicants who complete background checks and safety training, which exempts them from the state's 72-hour waiting period when buying a firearm starting July 1, 2025.
Residents who obtain the optional license can bypass the standard waiting period for firearm purchases, while applicants must pay a $35 fee and submit fingerprints, physical descriptions, and household member information to state authorities.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Firearm Purchasers
Residents who apply for a voluntary purchase license undergo background checks, pay fees, and receive exemptions from purchase waiting periods upon approval.
Licensed Firearm Dealers
Dealers must verify current state-issued purchase licenses to determine whether buyers are exempt from the 72-hour waiting period before completing a transfer.
Department of Public Safety
The Department is tasked with administering applications, issuing licenses, issuing temporary eligibility certificates, conducting reviews, and revoking non-compliant licenses.
Key Facts
- The Department of Public Safety is authorized to issue a voluntary license allowing a person to purchase a firearm.
- License applicants must submit a physical description, criminal and mental health history information, fingerprints, and contact information for adult and minor household members.
- The Vermont Crime Information Center must perform fingerprint-based state and federal criminal history checks, with the applicant paying the required fee.
- The Department must approve, issue a temporary eligibility certificate, or deny an application within 90 days of filing.
Show all 10 facts
- Applicants are disqualified if they are prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law, lack an approved firearms safety training certificate, or are subject to extreme risk protection, relief from abuse, or stalking orders.
- Licenses are valid for two years, cost $35, and require license holders to notify the Department of any address change within two business days.
- License fees are deposited in the General Fund and appropriated to the Department to support the licensing program.
- Revoked licenses must be returned to the Department, and failure to do so is punishable by imprisonment for up to 30 days, a fine of up to $500, or both.
- Purchasers holding a valid Department-issued firearm license are exempt from the state's 72-hour waiting period requirement.
- Transferring a firearm in violation of transfer laws carries a penalty of up to one year imprisonment, a fine of up to $500, or both.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of obtaining a voluntary firearm purchase license?
How much does the license cost and how long is it valid?
What information must be provided on the license application?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Feb 26, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Creation of Optional Expedited Pathway
The bill introduces an alternative compliance tier where background screening is performed in advance through an optional license to bypass standard transaction waiting periods.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.vermont.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy80Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz50Current news / social attention level
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