The Vermont Senate has taken a key vote in support of a trimmed-down bill that sets some new restrictions on firearms ownership.
The bill won preliminary approval on a 20-to-8 vote Wednesday. It includes new authority for state law enforcement officials to prosecute someone for being a felon in possession of a firearm after a previous conviction for certain classes of violent felonies, child-sex and drug crimes.
It also includes new provisions for reporting to the federal background check system when people have been determined by a court to be mentally ill and a danger to themselves or others.
It does not include an original provision that most angered gun-rights advocates. That provision would have required background checks for private gun sales except those between immediate family members.
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