‘Guns For Drugs’ Trade Grows In Vermont

Vermont guns are being used to purchase hard drugs from surrounding states, exacerbating both the drug epidemic in Vermont and gun violence in the broader New England area.

Despite an historically democratic electorate, Vermont’s history and tradition of hunting and shooting sports has led the state to maintain relatively relaxed gun control policies compared to other states across the country. Though the price of guns is fairly consistent from state to state, criminals can easily evade the gun restrictions of their home state by purchasing from Vermont citizens, and are thus willing to pay more for Vermont guns. Firearms can be sold illegally for hundreds of dollars more than their original purchasing price in states such as Massachusetts.

The trade is easy to facilitate because Vermont gun laws often do not require registration or documentation of firearm sales.

Across the Vermont border, guns are harder to come by, but drugs are plentiful and cheap in nearby urban areas. The guns that are traded for drugs in Vermont frequently end up in areas such as Springfield, Massachusetts, Boston and New York City. Due to low drug availability in rural areas of Vermont, a $4 bag of heroin can be sold for up to $40.

“It’s a supply-and-demand scenario,” Vermont U.S. attorney Tristram Coffin said.

The increased buying power of handguns has given rise to other forms of crime because theft of firearms has become more frequent. An unidentified man recently stole 32 guns from a sports shop in Hardwick on April 19.

Nearly $2 million worth of heroin and other drugs are entering Vermont every week, and addicts are looking for ways to pay for them.

Governor Peter Shumlin discussed the growing epidemic of heroin and other opiate addictions in Vermont in his State of the State address early in 2014, and announced that $10 million of state money will be dedicated to treatment programs. Shumlin further intimated that another $10 million in federal grant money will be dedicated to prevention counseling.

While Vermont hones in on its growing drug problem, officials from other states are more concerned about the increased gun violence made possible by the interstate sale of Vermont weapons.

Between January 2011 and January 2014, twelve recovered guns at crime scenes in Springfield, Massachusetts have been traced back to Vermont. This number is greater than any other outside state.

“Years ago, we rarely saw guns from Vermont and New Hampshire,” said James Neiswanger, the police Chief of Holyoke, Massachusetts. “Now it’s much more commonplace.”

Due to the lack of documentation requirements for private gun sales, the number of guns leaking from Vermont remains difficult to quantify.

Jim Mostyn, the resident agent in charge of Vermont’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), reports that many of the guns known to be missing are unaccounted for.

For these lost weapons to be tracked, they must be recovered by authorities in other states, as well as traced back to Vermont. Furthermore, the missing guns that prosecutors are aware of represent a small fraction of the overall number.

“Since we catch a relatively small proportion of the drug traffickers, we’re going to be catching a relatively small proportion of the drug traffickers who are then exchanging drugs for guns,” Coffin said.

Jon Rosenthal, co-founder of the Massachusetts-based Stop Handgun Violence group, believes that mandatory background checks on all gun sales, including private sales, would help combat the problems caused by gun and drug trafficking.  However, many Vermont gun owners say that such regulations violate the state constitution, which states that “the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the state.”

Many Vermont citizens have remained vocal proponents of personal gun rights. A proposed assault weapons ban, inspired by the Newtown killings, was withdrawn after fierce grassroots and legislative resistance.

Vermont has the highest rate of gun ownership in New England; 42 percent of residents own a firearm, in contrast to the 12.6 percent of Massachusetts residents who own a gun.
Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, a gun advocacy group, is urging a focus on reducing drug demands rather than increasing gun control.

While law enforcement officials in Vermont agree that adding ATF agents would lead to a greater number of dealers getting caught, finding the funding for such measures is difficult.