The article section on concealed carry in Vermont is inaccurate.
Vermont has not passed any concealed carry law. Vermont has
a state statute prohibiting counties and municipalites from
regulating carry. The Vermont Constitution, Article 16th, provides
for the right to arms for self-defense and VT has not enacted any
carry restriction law, so carry without a permit is legal.
FYI (copy below):
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33497
AOL users click here
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ELECTION 2004
Democrats shy about guns?
Analyst says candidates avoid discussion because it harms party
Posted: July 10, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

? 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Leading candidates seeking the Democrat Party’s presidential
nomination in 2004 are shying away from public discussions
of gun control because the issue is widely seen as a
contributing factor in the loss of the White House and
Congress in recent past elections, says a news analysis of
the issue.

“Democrats are nervous about these issues,” Peter Hamm,
communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent
Gun Violence, told the Hartford Courant newspaper, “but they
really don’t need to be.”

Not all Democratic supporters and strategists, however,
agree with Hamm’s assessment, especially for Democrats
further away from the confines of the Washington Beltway.

“I know there are concerns in large cities, but I want to
hear candidates stand up and say they support the Second
Amendment,” Edgar Malepeai, vice chairman of the Idaho
Democratic Party, told the Courant.

“This [pro-gun control] attitude has been a real problem in
the West,” Montana Democratic Chairman Bob Ream said.
“Republicans have painted Democrats as people who will take
your guns away.”

But Republicans point out Democrats most often vote to add
limits or restrictions to firearms ownership and access. In
the 1990s, for example, the most influential gun control
initiative ? the so-called “assault weapons ban” passed in
1994 ? was championed by Democrats in the House and Senate
and supported enthusiastically by President Bill Clinton.

Gun control groups such as the Brady Campaign also track
lawmakers’ and candidates’ votes on such issues. The group
says Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who is vying for his
party’s 2004 nomination, has a 90 percent support rating on
gun-control initiatives.

But the perception Democrats are rabid anti-gunners is
taking hold in candidates, at least rhetorically.

Lieberman, for instance, has said “citizens have a right to
own firearms.” Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., also a
Democratic presidential candidate, said last month, “I
support the right of any law-abiding citizen to own and use
firearms for legal purposes. It’s important for all of us
to say that in our country.”

Another candidate, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, has
talked of how he has hunted since he was 8 years old. And
one of the nation’s most liberal lawmakers, Ohio Rep.
Dennis Kucinich, says, “I’m sensitive to guns. It’s
possible to have gun laws that in no way interfere with
hunters.”

One of Democrats’ most favorite presidential contenders,
Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont ? the first state to pass a
hassle-free concealed carry law ? says he supports
background checks and the current ban on assault weapons,
but otherwise would “let states do what they want.” With
that platform, he says, “I can run in the West.”

Such talk, say gun rights advocates, is just smoke and
mirrors.

“Our members are very savvy. They know the rhetoric doesn’t
match the record” of Democrats on the gun issue, Chris W.
Cox, the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist, told
the paper.