A Bristling Standoff Rattles Gun-Friendly Vermont

[turbinetree]

In Pawlet, Vt., where a landowner opened a tactical weapons training site, a zoning dispute has escalated into something more dangerous.

By Ellen Barry

Feb. 23, 2021

PAWLET, Vt. — Fear has gradually spread in the town of Pawlet.

In the hills west of town — which is where the trouble started — the houses are remote, separated by wind-scoured stretches of cropland. Those people are the most jittery.

Some of them have installed cameras with infrared lights so they could pick up figures that might be moving in the dark around their houses. A few have invested in bulletproof vests.

Jack Begg contributed research.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/us/vermont-gun-range-pawlet-zoning.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[SunSeeker]

1. Typical gun nut bully terrorizing his neighbors.

[empedocles]

2. The townsfolk may well feel fragile

[StClone]

3. They are gun nuts because they are nuts

Doesn't surprise me. I pretty much expect the lunacy when "the gun" is No.1 thing in life.

[Lars39]

4. I can't say what I would like to say.

But having let a militia train there? Militias are supposedly illegal in all 50 states. The FBI needs to do their fucking job.

[Karma13612]

6. Agree

I have read that they are monitoring and aware of the situation.

But, to the public, it seems as if nothing is happening.

It’s a very sad situation with local land owner’s lives disrupted. I am guessing many would love to move away but they fear they will have trouble selling their homes now.

[Karma13612]

5. Being from NY-21

I have been following this for some time. It is quite frightening. Even the Gov of VT is avoiding the whole issue. I can’t say for sure, but I think he just wants to avoid confrontation. Everyone is scared of this guy. They can’t seem to stand up to him. Reminds me of another maniac that we allowed to be our President.

We need to say no.

[DBoon]

7. More from the article

She is talking about Daniel Banyai, a 47-year-old New Yorker who, attracted by Vermont’s relaxed gun laws, bought 30 acres in this rural town of around 1,400 and transformed it into his dream project, a training camp where visitors could practice shooting as if engaged in armed combat.

Whether those fears are warranted is a question that has preoccupied Vermont law enforcement for months. Certainly, the dispute has escalated over three years from a zoning matter into something more combustible, as Mr. Banyai resisted the town’s demands to dismantle his weapons training facility, Slate Ridge. Anonymous threats to his opponents have appeared online.

[intrepidity]

8. I think this is a model for many more to come

He's exploiting loopholes and, just like The Former Guy, skirting informal "rules" and norms. These guys are a cancer in our society, and they are digging in for the long haul. They want "freedom" and lack of regulation, and ironically, they are exactly, precisely the reason and cause for eventual draconian measures that must be taken to stop them.

I expect the next decade to be largely defined by them, unfortunately.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. More on this via VTDigger. . .

https://vtdigger.org/2020/10/29/militia-training-site-terrifies-neighbors-in-west-pawlet/