Vermont State Archives and Records Administration
Office of the Vermont Secretary of State
Spotlight on Records
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Gun Legislation, 1968
President Lyndon Johnson, who took office following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, supported
some controls over the selling and buying of firearms. The legislation he supported languished in
Congress until the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4, 1968) and Robert Kennedy (June 6,
1968) created broad support for some firearm regulation.
As part of this initiative, President Johnson polled the states on their existing firearm legislation. On
June 10, 1968 Governor Philip Hoff asked Attorney General James L. Oakes for his opinion. In his reply,
Oakes noted the ease with which felons could purchase Vermont firearms. He also suggested a number
of new control measures including a 72-hour "cooling off period" between the time of purchase and
the delivery of a firearm; prohibiting the sale of firearms to certain classes of citizens; and the creation
of a Vermont Gun Owner Registration system.
On July 25, 1968, the Vermont Legislative Council adopted Proposal Number 34 directing itself to
"engage in a study of effective control of firearms" and to report its findings to the 1969 session. The
Council then appointed a nine-member committee to conduct the study.
The committee met eleven times between August 27th and December 6th, and gathered information
from a number of sources. It received statistics from the Department of Public Safety on incidents
involving firearms, 1963-1967. On September 5, 1968, Assistant Attorney General Louis Peck gave the
committee an opinion on the constitutionality of gun legislation in Vermont.
The committee also took testimony from numerous Vermonters. Public Safety Commissioner Erwin
Alexander's testimony included discussion of hand guns, the licensing of gun owners, and the
registration of guns. Fish and Game Commissioner Edward Kehoe outlined many of the concerns of
opponents. Chittenden County State's Attorney Patrick Leahy covered various types of permitting in his
testimony to the committee.
The committee's interim report, including a minority report, shows the tensions among committee
members.
In 1969, two gun bills were introduced: H.272 addressing the out of state purchase of firearms, and
H.273 addressing municipal authorities relating to guns. H.272 was enacted as Act 108; H.273 did not
pass.
The records of the 1968 committee on gun legislation are on microfilm and can be found in Record
Series PRA-324 "Legislative Council Studies, 1962-1996," containers F-05324 and F-05325. The files
include draft legislation, correspondence among public officials, testimony, federal legislation, reports,
and general correspondence from citizens, law enforcement officials, gun clubs, and others. Bills that
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fail to pass, such as H. 273, are maintained by the Department of Libraries, and we thank Paul Donovan
for providing the copy of that bill.
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