No, Vermont isn't considering requiring we own weapons. How Web keeps story alive.
Decade-old, failed Vermont gun proposal gains new life on the Internet
Written by Matt Sutkoski Free Press Staff Writer
Dec. 10
burlingtonfreepress.com
Decade-old, failed Vermont gun proposal gains new life on the Internet
No, Vermont isn't considering requiring we own weapons. How Web keeps story alive.
The proposal raised eyebrows: A member of the Vermont House of Representatives named Fred Maslack from Poultney introduced a measure that would require all adult Vermonters to either own a gun or pay a yearly $500 fee.
If you surfed the Internet over the past week, youd swear this was breaking news. Its been all over Facebook. An Ithaca Journal outdoors columnist wrote about it last week. The gun enthusiast blogosphere was ablaze with the news.
In fact, Maslack introduced the bill in January 2000, and the proposal quickly died. Maslack has not been a Vermont lawmaker for a decade now.
But the ideae lives on in a perpetual Night of the Living Dead on the Internet. Almost every year since Maslacks ill-fated gun proposal, people have breathlessly reported on the would-be law as if it were the first time anybody has heard such a thing.
The Ithaca outdoor columnist, Dave Henderson, said he was hoodwinked when he found what appeared to be a new Associated Press story about the Maslack bill on the Internet. He has since learned that either the AP didnt write the article or the news organization did back in 2000, but not recently. He said he will post a correction in his next column.
The Ithaca Journal, like the Burlington Free Press, is owned by Gannett Co. Inc. It receives Hendersons column via syndication, much like the Ann Landers column in the Free Press, and it was not edited in house, said Bruce Estes, the managing editor of the Ithaca Journal.
Other online outlets are running with the story. The blog Gunowners of America bills itself as The only no-compromise pro-gun blog on the Web. It reported the Maslack story, complete with a tweet about it, over the weekend. The Houstonian online published a column about the Maslack proposal, as if it were new, on Dec. 4.
This is just the latest flurry of Maslack gun law stories. Several blogs carried the story in October 2009, early 2010, off and on in 2011 and in June and November of this year.
Many of the citations on Maslacks proposal appear to come from the same mysterious publication. For instance, dozens of websites and blogs have this passage, unattributed to anyone:
Vermont State Rep. Fred Maslack has read the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as Vermonts own Constitution very carefully, and his strict interpretation of these documents is popping some eyeballs in New England and elsewhere.
Maslack could not be reached for comment.
Jeff Soyer, who writes the Vermont-based gun enthusiasts blog site Alphecca.com, said hes exasperated by the eternal life of the Maslack proposal story. He wrote a Dec. 4 blog post pointing out the Maslack story was essentially an urban legend, and not based on current reality.
It is continually rediscovered by those wishing to believe it could come true, he said in a subsequent email exchange with the Burlington Free Press. Some of them will unfortunately grasp at any wishful-thinking news that can support their cause without doing any basic research into it.
Even if the Maslack proposal were currently under consideration, Soyer said he wouldnt support it because he doesnt believe the government should compel people to buy things or pay a fine for not doing so.
Cindy Ellen Hill, a Middlebury lawyer and writer, said shes well aware the gun law story is very old news, but she is happy that it keeps bubbling back to the surface.
She said the issue raises the question of whether language in the Vermont Constitution requires residents to be ready to serve in a citizen militia if necessary. Or is that role fulfilled by the State Police and National Guard, with taxpayer money fulfilling Vermonters duty to support that protection? Hill asked.
As an attorney and passionate devotee of constitutional law and particularly of civil rights, I am personally thrilled that this issue has arisen in the media once again for a very simple reason: It will drive at least some people to actually pick up and read the Vermont Constitution, and engage in public discourse regarding its meaning and its relevancy to the state we live in today, she wrote, responding to a message left to her via Facebook.
In any event, if you missed the Maslack gun story, dont worry. It could pop up again.
Contact Matt Sutkoski at 660-1846 or msutkoski@burlington
freepress.com. Follow Matt on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/vermont
weather.
