 Vermont is currently the healthiest and safest state in America. They also have some of the best and safest schools in the country. Yet, as recent events have made clear, Vermont is not immune to the risk of extreme violence in our schools or our communities. As I said last week, the details of a near tragedy here in Vermont have shaken me. And I, along with many others, are reexamining what we can do to keep our kids and communities safer. This morning, I shared a memo with legislative leaders outlining an action plan to answer that very question. I think it's important to acknowledge that no single solution or combination of actions will eliminate 100% of the risk. But I remain fully committed to working with the legislature and community stakeholders to reduce the risk of violence in our communities while preserving our constitutional rights of Vermonters as well as Americans. The action plan I propose covers what we can do immediately to keep our kids safe. As well, longer term strategies that will be included, both legislative and administrative actions, and it focuses in three core areas. First, strengthening school security. Second, keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. And finally, prompting safe and healthy communities. I truly believe this conversation cannot be just about guns. And that difficult as it is, we need to set politics aside and be willing to move forward and make difficult decisions about what steps will have a real impact and what actions need more research and discussion. At the end of the day, we must work together if we're going to build consensus towards meaningful change. Let me start with strengthening school safety because I think the most immediate and urgent action step is to identify and implement any additional prevention or preparedness measures necessary. To that end, I directed the Vermont State Police in coordination with our school security liaison officer to conduct security assessments of all schools over the next several weeks. Additionally, I propose school safety grants requesting we make $5 million available for security grants that can be quickly deployed. As well, I'm hoping to engage with you, the media, on a public service project to send the message when you see something, say something. I cannot emphasize enough that without the courage of a young woman who spoke up about the Fairhaven threat, we could have faced an unthinkable tragedy. As well, I'd like to encourage the legislature to consider a shield law to protect the identity of those brave individuals who do speak up. Next, we can take immediate action on gun safety. Specifically, I've asked the legislature to pass S-221 and send it to me before town meeting break and make it effective upon passage. I believe there is a sense of urgency on this legislation that could have an immediate impact on the safety of our community. I've also asked the legislature to continue their work to pass H-422, which would reduce the connection between guns and domestic violence. H-675, which would clarify a judge's discretion to require high-risk individuals to turn over all guns and dangerous weapons. H-876 to solidify the federal ban on bump stocks. Further, I believe it's time to consider raising the legal age to purchase a gun to 21, with some exceptions, including for those who were trained members of the military, law enforcement officers, or have completed an accredited safety course, like the one I had when I was a kid. And as they consider expanding reporting requirements and addressing the number and type of sales that require background checks, a conversation I'm open to, I've requested they also review whether our reporting to the national background check system is sufficient. Getting at the root causes of violence is so critical to this conversation. So I will advocate for legislation that promotes safe and healthy communities. I've also asked the legislature to support the newborn home visits program I proposed for this year to support our proposals to restore the foundation of our mental health system and to expand on the good work they've been doing on adverse childhood experiences. As I've talked about before, my team has been building a strategic plan which includes metrics that help us track how we're doing. I feel it's important to track our progress in this area as well, so we will work to identify how best to show the results of these proposed changes. Finally, I understand the work of improving community and school safety is never done. With that in mind, I will form a task force of experts to determine what should be done in each of the areas I've just outlined. My expectation is for this group to begin its work within the coming weeks with practical recommendations by December 1st for consideration at the start of the next session. I want to be clear, these are my recommendations, but as I've said before, I've said a lot over the last week, I'm open to additional ideas and an ongoing discussion. In addressing this issue, we have an opportunity to set example for our children and for our nation by having a civil, fact-based and prevention-focused discussion. If we are successful in this regard, I'm confident we can make significant steps forward. If we truly, truly want to achieve results that make communities healthier and children safer, we cannot allow the discussion to be derailed by politics or frankly, be deterred from action by extreme points of view on both sides of this complex issue. I look forward to working with the legislature and all stakeholders in this regard on these very important issues. With that, I'd be happy to take any questions. This conversation has evolved very rapidly in the last week or so. What kind of internal reflection have you been going through to get from where you were to where you are? Yeah, as I reported last week, after reading the affidavit of the situation in Fairhaven in particular, I was right on the heels of what happened in Florida. I've thought for quite some time that Vermont was immune to this type of thing. But after reading the affidavit, it wasn't a question if it was going to happen. It was just a question of which day? And that has a way of rocking your very core. And for that, I had to do some reflecting, some soul-searching myself to determine what we can do to protect our most precious resource, which is our kids. So that's why we've, in this short period of time, have developed this plan, which is action steps that I think are achievable to take care of the situation immediately and then look long-term to what we can do to solve this crisis. Governor, why did you think that Vermont was immune to this sort of event when we've seen school shootings in just about every other state? We had an incident here, in essence, 10 years ago, but why did you think Vermont was immune to this? We have, statistically, we have the safest thing in the country. And I just felt that our laws were appropriate and that we were going to continue to be immune to something of this magnitude. For a small state, we talked to each other. We're very tight communities. And to have something like this fall under the radar was something that I didn't think was achievable. But it happened. And again, from my standpoint, I've evolved and then solved for myself. Reading the affidavit was, again, it was one of the most fascinating and frightening affidavits I've ever read. I see the S-60, notice of background check, the legislation is not on this list here. Democratic leaders pledged this morning to pass that Senate to your desk. Is that piece of legislation you support or oppose and what would you do if, in its current form, it was... I said I'm open to anything. Everything's on the table. I'm not necessarily opposed. I do think that we need to strengthen the existing system that we have now, I think, in currents with anything we do in the future. I've had to reflect, again, on myself in particular. I've owned guns my entire life. I bought a lot of guns. I bought them from dealers. I bought them private sales. And in reflection this week, I've thought about my liability myself, about what if I wanted to sell one of my guns. I would want to make sure that there was a way to track that so that if anything happened in the future, that I wasn't liable, that I had a means of doing that. So it's, again, something that I think we should look at, and I'm open to the conversation. What are your offers for Vermonters on this issue? You know, I'm sure we have, but I've been paying as much attention to that. We've been pretty busy this week, trying to bring my entire public safety services and the education agencies together and trying to put pieces together in a constructive way so that we can have results, immediate results that we could point to and say that we're going to make a difference. And then instead of just talking about it, we thought it was important that we do something about it. Are there things you're not willing to consider hard edges that your interest in this topic will run up against? I said anything is on the table. And we'll see what happens over the next few weeks. But again, from a short-term perspective, I think that these are action steps that are achievable from a long-term perspective, trying to put this task force together to consider other changes or things that we can do in other areas. It's not just about the guns. It's about what we can do to keep our kids safer in many different aspects. So it was a prohibition on sales of certain kinds of firearms on the table for you? You know, I'm sure you're alluding to the assault weapons ban in particular. Well, I mean, let's get away from that terminology because a lot of people don't even know what we're talking about when we use those terms. It's up to defined. Right, so more generally, are you open to a prohibition on sales of certain kinds of firearms as part of this? It's not part of my initiative. I don't think it really makes a difference. You have a .223 caliber hunting rifle that is quite popular in Vermont. That would fall under that so-called AR-15, AK-47 type of sizing. So it's not as much the gun itself and the caliber. It's what's behind it. So from my perspective, I don't think that solves anything. What about magazines and magazines? Magazines are another, you know, I've said this for a while because you have a .223 hunting deer rifle and then you have a .223 rifle and AK-47 and AR-15. That has high capacity magazines and I think that that's where you might want to look. Again, I would leave that on the table. Would you ban AK-47s and AR-15s? No, as again. Why not? Are those used for hunting? Do you use one for hunting? But take away, define, you know, if you just say AK-47, AR-15, then you come up with a B-35 or a B, whatever. It's something else. It's not the gun, it's not the caliber. The caliber is the same as a deer rifle, same thing. I mean, it's just, it looks intimidating, the stocks are intimidating. I don't think it's the same. It's the same, it's a semi-automatic, just like deer rifles. But at the end of the day, it's how quickly the bullets come out at the end of the gun, right? So, you know, is there something you can do to limit access to guns that have that kind of capacity where you're shooting hundreds of bullets within seconds? Again, it gets back to the question that was fielded before about magazine size. It's not the gun itself. So you support a magazine? I said I'd be open to considering magazines. And what would that be? What would be the limit that you consider? Well, we look at, you know, I don't want to get into specifics, but again, we look at what is required or regulations in hunting right now. I know if I go hunting or goose hunting, there's a limitation to how many rounds I can have in my shotgun. So you like those limits, it's a good thing. Well, I'm just saying that there are limits now. What I just don't know is from myself personally, that a 30 round magazine, is anything anyone needs. You've been around long enough to see yourself and appreciate the difficulty of the politics of guns in this state. Do you think that that calculus has changed dramatically in the last week? It has for me. You know, I don't know. I don't know, I haven't done any polling. I haven't done anything to figure that out. But you know, I have a huge responsibility as governor to try and keep Vermonters as safe as possible. And this is an area regardless of the political fallout that I think is the path forward that will keep Vermonters safer. I think I know a lot of people are going to be upset with these matters that you're putting out. No doubt about that. So what, I mean, you're speaking to really two different audiences, maybe more than two audiences. So what do you say to those folks who are going to be really upset with you? Well, again, I have a tremendous responsibility here. And when you become governor, you have to take risks in terms of trying to protect Vermonters in any way you see fit. And in this case, I think that this is, we need immediate steps. And then we took a path that I think is achievable. Where are you going to get the $5 million for the school safety grants? We have, and we've developed a path forward on that. Some of it will be part of the reserve that was set forth in the budget adjustment. And there's some other money that we feel is available in the capital bill. What kind of infrastructure would it be used to construct? Well, we take these grants again, where this has all come about in the last week, so it's not protected. But what I'm envisioning is for those, for some school resource officers who don't have them, but also some of the capital investments and maybe cameras, it could be most anything, leaving it up to the schools to determine and our safety liaison officers and the Perot State police to determine what it is that we can do in that particular school, what they need to keep students safe. Do you have a bipartisan meeting with legislators just before this press conference in here? How did that go? What was the mood like in the room? And do you see a path forward on these things? I thought it was well received, I believe. And of course, they haven't had a lot of time to read through everything that we're doing or contemplating doing. But over my career in politics, so to speak, over the last 18 years and so I've done a lot of reaching across the aisle and what we need to do is work together and that's where you get the best solutions. So I have a feeling in this case that there is a willingness to work together on this issue because again, if we push the politics aside, then we can have some real results. Did any immediate disagreements come up during your discussion with legislative officials? I don't recall that there was anything that was proposed that said no way, no how, but just a willingness to listen. Did you discuss your position on universal background checks? I'm sorry? Did you discuss your position on universal background checks? There was the mention that that was coming, it would probably be a floor amendment in the Senate and the feeling was that it might pass. So again, I've said that I'm not putting any lines in the sand here, I'm willing to listen and be open. What would you need to see and where it's actually mounted for that? Well, again, yeah, I mean, there are some gaps there that I believe that we need to look at and again, considering what I've reflected on over the last few years, that there may be some areas we can improve. I think on a national level, there's a mood as well. So why aren't you coming out and supporting it today? Well, I mean, you saw, I don't know if you probably haven't seen it yet, but there's a whole list of things that we think are achievable. And if that's one of them, if it comes through the legislature, then we would move forward with that. But I wanted to find steps, areas where there's agreement, where I think that we can actually get something accomplished and I know that the background checks are still controversial. So, Governor, would you sign a bill to find the universal documents? I said, you know, everything's on the table. If they put it through the legislature, I'm willing to listen and talk. I'm not putting any lines in the sand. I'm not saying that I wouldn't support it in the end, but we'll see what it looks like. Why shouldn't a 20 year old be able to buy a gun? Well, I just, again, I think they can if they go through a gun safety course. I believe it's important for everyone to understand what the limitation is, what the gun itself, how it should be utilized. I've been through a course myself, and again, I think that everyone should. So, with that limitation, I think that it's important that we take that step. But why should the threshold be higher for purchasing a firearm for a 20 year old than a 30 year old? Well, I just think you're very impressionable during those times, and I think as we've seen with some of the destruction over the last year or so with some of the school devastation that many of them include kids who are young and they've gone to school just recently. And I just think that it's a time to reflect on that. There have been a lot of students here this week. You might have heard of next door while you were, I mean, you're meeting in here, but do you think you would, as you say, have evolved this quickly, if not for their voices this past week? They've been very important to this conversation, obviously. And I think that it's, we should listen. And we should listen throughout the country because they're future and they should be part of it. So I think it's important for them to step up and been very proud of what they're doing. It isn't easy. And so I think it's important for the discussion to the dialogue. You're talking about your own experience with guns. How many do you own and what type of thing? Yeah, I don't know the number off top of my head, but you know, I'm probably under 12 and mostly the rifle and as well as shotguns, I did it used to do a lot of work, I mean. Do you want to access some of that? Do you want to go out and do you have, what was the maximum number of rounds you could put out in any of your weapons? What you had to do with those? I don't know. I guess maybe a similar version of that question are anything against you, some of the ones that people collectively refer to as semi-automatic or assault weapons, I mean. Can you speak about that term? Actually, I don't own a semi-automatic. Most of mine are to be with bolt action, lumber action, pump, but I don't have an automatic. Not that I wouldn't buy one, but I don't have one. Governor, I didn't see farming teachers on this list. Is that beyond the pale for you? I just don't think that that's a solution that is viable. Why not? I think it gets very complicated. And I just don't think it's something that, I think there are other steps we could take that are more achievable and create a safer atmosphere. Governor, you mentioned the alleged fairing plot that shook you, that at least Speaker Johnson mentioned that earlier this morning, too, that you informed her that it was shaking you. The very first spot that flashed across your mind you heard about it. What was that? But this happened, that this was inevitable in terms of what I read in the report. And certainly with the investigation, I give a lot of credit as well. I mean, I've given credit to the brave person that's stuffed up to report this, but also law enforcement for following through. But if it hadn't been for that one person stepping up this, we could be having an entirely different conversation today. And that's what I want to prevent from happening in the future. If we don't have this conversation like they're having in Florida this week. Is there any role related to either expanding or producing gun free zones as part of this larger effort? We haven't discussed that at this time. And again, everything's on the table, but we haven't discussed that. If the universal background check bill appeared on your desk right now, would you sign it? Again, I've said that I'm not necessarily opposed to it at this point in time. There was a time when I was, but I would take a look at that. And I'm not opposing it, I would be probably supporting it. Well, again, the words matter within any bill. They depend on what's in the bill, if there's anything else. But again, I've evolved on this. Where I was a week or two ago has changed completely. So I would. Is it fair to say that as written, you wouldn't sign the bill? No, I wouldn't say that. Have you read the bill? I haven't read the bill. I haven't. I don't know. We'll see what passes. We're going to have a first glimpse at that in the next week or so out of the Senate. Then I'll have to go to the House. What would the red flags be on a bill that would create universal background checks? Is there a scenario where it's very necessary for a firearm to be transferred without a background check? No, not that I'm aware of. I'm just, again, I just want to take a look at whatever that bill is. I'm not saying that I would not support it at all. Again, if it passed through the legislature, I'd probably be the one to support it. Secretary, welcome to the notion of auditing schools for potential weak spots. It implies that there are problems out there. What are some areas that you hope that school districts will be able to learn from these audits and potentially float in those? I think continuous audit is good practice because I think it's a chance to consulate checks, staff turnover, new things happen. It's a chance to consulate, review your procedures, your protocols, and make sure that everybody in the system knows what they're supposed to do and how to respond to the event of an emergency. There's also new research that comes out all the time about best practice. There's new technologies. And we encourage our superintendents to constantly be leading their systems through that. What's your greatest concern about school safety? I think it depends on the location. I think it really depends where you are. There are some schools that aren't hooked up yet to 911. There's other schools that have maybe had turnover and it's time to review their protocols and make sure that their emergency response plan still works. It just depends on the school system. I'm going to generalize. How many schools are not hooked up to 911? I don't have the exact figure. What's the rough number of dozens? I'm not going to guess because I don't know but I'd be happy to find out and get it to you. Is there any system, whether it's in public safety or education that sort of creates a central reporting point for school going into lockdown or a threat against the school? There's been a few this week but it's unclear if any one part of the state government knows the whole picture. I'm not sure that's correct. I mean, law enforcement works very closely together on these things. So for example, in St. Albans incident, the state police were contacted very quickly on that. I mean, St. Albans PD would have the lead on that but we are getting contacted and the state police is getting contacted very, very quickly on those and deploying resources as needed to any request from any municipality. If it's a school in the Vermont State Police jurisdiction they will report quickly to that and I'm confident they are then looping in the sheriffs or whatever municipality has to be there. I just wanted to point out on the school safety. We have a robust school safety program right now. It's a great partnership between public safety and the Department of Education. So these audits are not new. This is not something that is new. We are doing these now. We have a school liaison officer. We have a school safety website. If you haven't seen it, that provides us a tremendous amount of resources to the state in making sure that planning is done for these exact type of things. And that is very robust in the state right now. What the governor's proposing is to make it more robust and to look at where we might be able to do things better, how we can help school districts plan better, have make sure their plans are up to date as new things occur, as new research has occurred, that we can keep those plans up to date and make them and make our schools as safe as humanly possible as we can. So I don't want to be thinking that this is something new that we haven't been doing this. We've been doing a tremendous amount of work in this area over the last few years and it's been a great partnership between public safety and the Department of the Agency of Education. I think it's just in that vein it's worth adding that we do after incident reviews of every incident to a statewide calls and partnership with law enforcement. And I think the point is that these are living documents and it's a way to keep it on everybody's brain because safety is our first public trust. It's our first responsibility. Parents and their kids to us, our first job is to make sure we're safe and that's why we engage in this on an ongoing basis. So are any of you aware of a threat or a lockdown at two places today? I'm not aware of any lockdown or I know it was an incident maybe potentially up in the Loyal County but I don't really have any particulars on that. Have you ever had this many lockdowns and hate before? I don't know. I don't know what we've had lockdowns. I don't think it's unusual. When we have something like a fair haven thing you see sort of things happening within the week or two after that where you might get an uptick in the number of threats or call ins or postings or things of that nature. So I don't think, I haven't seen anything that to me as struck me as unusual in that regard. Particularly after an incident like Parkland or something closer to home like the fair haven thing where you'll get an uptick in this kind of I think threat or call ins to schools that are trying to shut the school down. So I don't think I've seen anything unusual in that regard. Are you convinced the fair haven thing would have occurred before that young woman? I don't have a crystal ball. So that is an impossible question to ask for. I think the fair haven't wanted to be breathing half of David resulted in those charges and I really am not gonna comment beyond that. How many threats or lockdowns have there been since Florida in this thing? In the state of Vermont? Yeah, I don't know the answer. I mean, I can find it out but I don't know the answer. This has been several. Thank you very much. Appreciate you coming in. Thank you.