Salmoneye
Member
The optimum scenario is permitless constitutional carry within the borders of your own state, and the retention of some permit system to allow those who wish to take advantage of reciprocity agreements between states.
Anyone not federally barred may carry open or concealed in VT...No need for reciprocity or a 'permit' from another state...I don't care to travel any longer, so I do not worry about not having a permit that is honored elsewhere...Only time I leave the state is the occasional foray across the deep water line of Lake Champlain into NY waters...Simply have to make sure I do not cross the 'border' while armed...
As for:
The cons are you can have some fellow wander in on their 21st birthday, buy a firearm/ammo/holster and throw it on their belt without so much as glancing at the manual. On several instances I witnessed this happening,
I have no idea where you grew up in Vermont, but where I grew up, we all had guns before we graduated High School and knew their workings and respect for them...No one I have ever known went to the store to buy a gun when they turned 21 as they already had them...Maybe I am just really old...
21 is the age to be able to buy handgun from an FFL, but private sales are legal at 18 (federally), and 'possession' of a handgun is 16 in VT (Yes, I am aware of the 'conflicts' with the federal age)...
§ 4008. Possession of firearms by children
A child under the age of 16 years shall not, without the consent of his or her parents or guardian, have in his or her possession or control a pistol or revolver constructed or designed for the use of gunpowder or other explosive substance with leaden ball or shot. A child who violates a provision of this section shall be deemed a delinquent child under the provisions of chapter 52 of Title 33.
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullchapter.cfm?Title=13&Chapter=085