Vermont Fact Sheet

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Gun Ownership in Vermont (Source: VT Department of Health)

• 40% of Vermont households own at least one gun 

• 10% of those households keep at least one gun loaded and unlocked

• Orleans County residents are the most likely to have a gun in their home (60%). 

• Chittenden County residents are the least likely to have a gun in their home (28%).

• An estimated 39,525 guns were sold in Vermont in 2025. (source: FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS))

Gun Violence in Vermont (Source: VT Department Health)

• Most deaths involving a firearm are suicides (82%). 

  • In 2025, 140 Vermonters died by suicide, a rate of 21.6 per 100,000 residents. The rate of suicide deaths is significantly higher than the rate in 2024 (16.2 per 100,000)

  • The rate of suicide in Vermont has consistently been higher than the rate of suicide in the United States.

• Firearm injuries are statistically higher in 2023 compared to 2016. 

  • The rate of firearm injuries statistically increased over the last six years (15.1 in 2016 vs 25.6 in 2022)

• Most firearm injuries are accidental, while most firearm deaths are suicides. 

  • Among hospital visits for firearm injuries, 69% are unintentional, 20% are the result of an assault, and 7% are intentional self-harm. The remaining categories (legal intervention and undetermined intent) result in fewer than six emergency visits.

  • Most firearm deaths are suicides (82%). Seventeen percent of firearm deaths are due to homicide and 1% are due to legal intervention.

• Male suicides account for 73% of all firearm deaths. 

  • Male firearm suicide deaths are highest for adults 25-44 years old.

Existing Gun Violence Prevention Laws

Selected Recent Federal Policy Rollbacks (Source: Newtown Action Alliance)

• Executive Order “Protecting Second Amendment Rights” (February 7, 2025): President Trump’s first major action was an executive order halting or reversing numerous gun safety policies enacted between 2021 and 2025 by the Biden Administration. The order directed the Attorney General to review “all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions” on firearms from the Biden era and develop a plan to eliminate any perceived “infringements” on gun rights. 

• Undermining Expansion of Background Checks (“Engaged in the Business” Rule): The administration rolled back the ATF’s “engaged in the business” rule – a Biden-era rule clarifying when frequent or profit-driven gun sellers must obtain a Federal Firearms License and conduct background checks. That rule was meant to close the private sale loophole by ensuring unlicensed sellers who commercially trade firearms cannot evade background checks. By seeking to loosen the definition, the Trump administration is looking to weaken background checks and allow more sales without oversight. 

• Restoration of Gun Rights for Prohibited Individuals (March 2025 –August 2026): In March 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an interim final rule restoring a process for individuals with criminal records to regain firearm access, reversing over 30 years of precedent. Since 1992, Congress had blocked funding for ATF to consider “relief from disabilities” applications by felons and domestic abusers seeking to have their gun rights restored. Applications will be opened in stages beginning September 25, 2026, with broader public access scheduled for November 4, 2026. 

• Repeal of ATF “Zero Tolerance” Policy for Lawbreaking Gun Dealers (April 2025): The administration rescinded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy, known as the “zero tolerance” policy, which had been implemented under President Biden. This Biden-era rule required ATF to revoke the licenses of gun dealers who willfully violated federal law (for example, by selling to prohibited buyers or falsifying records). Its enforcement had led to a historic increase in dealer license revocations for serious violations. 

• Federal Settlement Legalizing Forced-Reset Triggers (May 2025): The Trump administration effectively legalized qualifying forced-reset triggers under federal law. Forced-reset triggers, or FRTs, are aftermarket devices that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire at rates comparable to fully automatic machine guns—ATF testing found rates of up to approximately 970 rounds per minute—turning otherwise legal guns into de facto machine guns.

• DOJ Abandons Enforcement of Federal Handgun Age Restriction (September 2026): On September 17, 2026, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice declared that the federal law prohibiting licensed gun dealers from selling handguns and handgun ammunition to 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds violates the Second Amendment. The restriction, enacted as part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, remains federal law, but the DOJ concluded that it may no longer be criminally enforced against licensed dealers selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 to 20.