Rhode Island: Anti-Gun Bills Stacking up at the Statehouse

Lawmakers are several weeks into their 2017 session, and it didn’t take long for anti-gun politicians to recycle their same old failed gun bills from previous years.  Rather than focus on real issues facing the state, anti-gun politicians are once again fixated on harassing lawful gun owners.  Several dangerous gun control bills have already been introduced.  The following list highlights some of the more dangerous bills, with several more bills expected as the session continues in Providence.

S.223, sponsored by Senators Goldin, Coyne, Miller, DaPonte and Goodwin, would ban detachable magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.  Criminals, by definition, do not follow the law, and this bill would do nothing more than tip the scales in favor of criminals in self-defense situations.  There is no evidence that magazine bans work.  In fact, the country had a federal magazine restriction which expired in 2004 and was not readopted due to its ineffectiveness.

S.187, sponsored by Sens. Metts, Golding, Crowley, Quezada, and Calkin, would prohibit carrying on school grounds by anyone other than a peace officer.  H.5345, sponsored by Reps. Kazarian, Ajello, Blazjewski, Tanzi, and Hull, is the House version of S.187.  This is nothing more than a swipe at lawful concealed carry permit holders.  Current law already permits carry for those properly screened and licensed to carry, and this law has been on the books for years with no demonstrated problems.  To the contrary, creating more gun free zones does nothing more than embolden criminals. This legislation was introduced and defeated last session after proponents of the bills were unable to document any problems with current law.

H.5067, sponsored by Rep. Amore, would prohibit possession of firearms by those convicted of certain misdemeanor offenses.  Last session, lawmakers passed a bill that would prohibit possession of firearms by those convicted of felony domestic violence, mirroring existing federal law.  The introduction of this legislation demonstrates that anti-gun politicians will never be satisfied until they pass their extreme anti-gun agenda.  Unfortunately, this legislation could result in lifetime gun bans for certain non-violent offenses.  

H.5262 and H.5263, sponsored by Reps. Diaz, Slater, Williams, Moldanado, would put restrictions on youth possession of firearms and ammunition.  These types of bills have been unsuccessfully introduced on youth possession for well over a decade.  While these bills are rationalized as an attempt to go after gang members, they would do nothing more than put young hunters and competitive shooters in danger of being prosecuted for simple possession.

Please contact your state Representative and state Senator and respectfully ask them to oppose these ant-gun bills.  Also, please continue to watch for future NRA-ILA alerts on these bills and more as they are introduced and scheduled for hearings.