BURLINGTON (AP) -- The Burlington City Council has voted to support a proposed ban on assault rifles and large capacity ammunition clips in the city.
The resolution passed the Council on a 10-3 vote Monday night. It was proposed by council member Norm Blais in the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., last month.
"We should afford to our citizens, especially our children, the same rights we afford to our deer," Blais said at the meeting in Contois Auditorium, describing how Vermont wildlife regulations restrict what types of ammunition hunters use to target wild animals during prescribed hunting seasons.
The resolution was opposed by gun owners, hunters and others on Monday. Many advocated that the city do more to actively support responsible gun ownership.
"These people will pick up a stick, a rock or they're going to use their fist," opponent Roger Farnsworth said at the meeting. "Are you going to cut everybody's hands off? And then what's this law going to do to the law-abiding citizen?"
To become law, the resolution would need to go before a committee, eventually be voted on by city residents and then sent to the Legislature for approval.
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