Vermont Senate Panel Approves Gun Removal in Risk Situations

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A panel of the Vermont Senate has approved a process for ordering people to relinquish guns and explosives if they are deemed at risk of violence or suicide.

The bill approved Friday by the Judiciary Committee gained new urgency after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and an alleged plot of violence at Vermont's Fair Haven Union High School.

The Burlington Free Press reports the bill would allow a family court judge to order a person to relinquish firearms or explosives for up to 60 days if a state's attorney or the attorney general's office can show that the person is at extreme risk of harming others or attempting suicide.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott says he wants the bill on his desk before Town Meeting Day March 6.