Gun control moms group advertises public meeting, then shuts out Vermonters

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America visited the capital and held what was advertised as a public meeting, only to turn away about a dozen pro-gun rights guests at the door.

Moms Demand Action group leaders informing Vermonters they aren’t allowed to attend the meeting.

They even called the police on people who arrived to attend the Tuesday night meeting.

Montpelier police officer Kevin Moulton told True North that when he went in to the meeting to address the situation, he was told the space was rented out, meaning organizers were “within their legal right” to make it private even after advertising it as public.

The meeting was originally scheduled at the Unitarian Church in Montpelier, but instead it took place at an office building about a half mile away on Barre Street.

That was not the only change of plans.

“Well I RSVP’d online as I was requested,” Richard Ley from Clarendon told True North. “I have received emails from them, and I drove an hour and a half to be at the meeting here tonight to find that the venue we arrived at was closed, with no address to attend the meeting which they held at a different location.

The door was closed after locals were ushered out while being told police had been called to the scene.

“I’m very disappointed in the fact that they would do that to me,” he said.

Ley said he simply wanted to attend the meeting since it was touted as a community conversation. “Instead I was turned away at the door,” he said.

Moms Demand Action has connections with former New York City Mayor and prominent anti-gun activist Michael Bloomberg, according to the New York Times.

Archie Flower, a resident of Middlebury who drove a long distance to attend the meeting, said he thought the group didn’t follow-through on information it sent out to the public.

“I was just showing up to be part of the community conversation which was advertised. It was never advertised as private; it was never advertised as members only,” he said.

Still, he said it was worth the drive to talk with others about gun rights and politics.

“I still wanted to talk with those people because, you know, the best disinfectant for bad ideas is sunlight,” he said. “ … But they didn’t want to talk.”

About a dozen people — all Vermonters who believe in protecting gun rights — were kept out of the meeting.

“I received an email confirmation only to be told I had to be a member or invited by a member to get in,” Justin Farrar of Springfield said.

Bill Robinson of Warren also made the drive to Montpelier, only to be shut out.

“My wife and I came up here to be a part of the discussion, and they let us in and then they said, ‘Were you invited by a member?’ And then they said only members or people invited by members can come in.”

Eddie Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, said the group may have been within its rights but handled the situation in a way that stokes suspicions about gun control agendas.

“They are within their rights. We just want to know what they have to hide,” he said.

One spurned Vermonter said the group’s actions inadvertently illustrated the need for guns.

“I thought it was quite ironic that they called the police with guns to defend their meeting,” Blaire Scaglione from Warren said.

Michael Bielawski is a reporter for True North Reports. Send him news tips at bielawski82@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TrueNorthMikeB.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/S Pakhrin and Michael Bielawski/TNR

18 thoughts on “Gun control moms group advertises public meeting, then shuts out Vermonters

  1. As with most anti-gun people, MDA misses the point. I challenge them to at least make the motions to purchase one. A federal background check is given on the spot and then a phone call is made to verify the information. Get caught lying and you’re arrested.
    Vermont doesn’t have the gun violence problem that places like Chicago or Detroit have. Chicago has the toughest gun laws in America and the highest gun crime rate as a result. MDA, how’s that for you? Vermont has one of the lowest. Why? Because the criminal element knows that the person they are wanting to target MIGHT be carrying. Think about that! I’d rather have a gun on me and not need it than need it and not have it.

  2. Dear Moms Demanding Action, I suggest that what you need to teach yourselves and your rug rats is the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not bear false witness which is the same as lying and apparently you have lying down pat. Repent you feminist hate mongers.

  3. The only thing these anti 2nd Amendment types hate more is the 1st Amendment when it used to contradict them.

  4. As a refugee from upstate New York and a retired employee of corrections and law enforcement ; when I retired the decision to flee the “Safe Act” satellite state of the USSR was a no-brainer! I chose Vermont because the State constitution, of same, Article 16 clearly states: “that the people have a right to bear arms for defense of themselves and the State.” There is NO confusing “Militia” or doubtful punctuation to be misinterpreted. It is what is!

    That said overnight I became felon under Gov. Cuomo’s passage of the safe act in NYS because of what I already owned. If you decide to move to our state (VT) check your flat lander mentality at the border!

    God Bless America
    Long live Ethan Allen

  5. Like a snake crawling thru the woods, these people don’t want to be confronted. They advertise an open meeting to discuss ‘gun rights’ but don’t allow anyone that believes in ‘gun rights’ to attend. Living on a dirt road on the back side of a mountain, I have one answer to them all.
    “Come and take them, ammo first.”

    When I wake up with an angry bear on my front porch, I’ll call ‘Blooming-idiot’ and his friends to come and offer him cookies to go away. That should work, wouldn’t it??

  6. I want to thank the Vermont locals who spent precious time and gas money to get to a meeting to discuss an issue of interest to Vermont citizens only be be told they were not welcome at what was advertised as a public meeting. Although the meeting organizers were within their rights, they demonstrated an utter disregard for the Vermont way of life and democractic principles. This secret society behavior calls into question their very principles and tarnishes them in the eyes of many Vermonters going forward.

  7. Did anyone keep track of what politicians were allowed to attend? And were they invited or just have to flash their lib credentials at the door?

  8. I suspect that the reason it was not really open to the public is that Bloomberg money was being offered to the powers that be to get what those “mothers” want. Why else would it become a closed door session.

    • Bloomberg has given this organization over 50 million dollars. This is not a local organization it is a national group who has already spent millions in Main and New Hampshire pushing there anti gun agenda

  9. Very aggravating. Who invited them? What’s with organizations and corporations coming to Vermont and stirring up problems that weren’t issues in the first place? Vermont is a rural state with generations of hunters and gun enthusiasts. Nobody is forced to hunt or own guns in Vermont, so be respectful and let those who do hunt and enjoy guns do so without hindrance.

    • Sandy we only want a conversation with them The people who were there just wanted to listen to what they had to say. This is not to much to ask if there not hiding anything.

      An open invitation to Moms Demand Action. We know you have been watching this page because it is open to everyone. If you would like to comment here you are welcome to do so. We truly want to have an open and honest discussion on the rights of Vermonters under Article 16th of our constitution. We also have the real facts on the lack of crime here. We have continually asked your original group GSVt t do debate us and they have refused. You also have an open invitation to attend any of our meetings and forums.
      WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE and we do not bite.
      Ed Cutler,
      President
      Gun Owners of Vermont

  10. What do you expect from the Looney-Left , they spew there Bloomberg rhetoric and have
    no substantial evidence or facts “Pure Hype” that’s why they want to close off the public
    because they would have to answer questions that they have NO real answers to !!

    If they feel or think VT is so dangerous, then maybe they should move to a real safe place
    like NY and Bloomberg can spend his money on there relocation cost .

    Vermont has the safest gun records in the Nation, maybe these fools need to move back
    where they came from , if we need there help we’ll ask for it ………….

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