Rhode Island: Gun Bill Night Scheduled for Wednesday in House Judiciary

Guns have already played a prominent role in this year’s legislative session.  In addition to passing legislation dealing with home-manufactured firearms and 3D printed guns, the Governor’s staff presented their budget to the House Finance Committee this week, detailing punitive taxes on hunting and fishing clubs.  Astonishingly, the staff of Gov. Gina Raimondo was quite upfront about wanting to discourage gun ownership with her version of a “sin” tax.   

We are once again calling on Rhode Island NRA members to make their presence known by showing up at the Statehouse to oppose these gun control measures. Some of these measures are:

H.7263 by Rep. Caldwell bans possession, sale and transfer of “assault weapons” which are not properly registered.  The federal “assault weapon” ban expired in 2004 after 10 years, and the U.S. Justice Department conducted a study following the ban’s expiration and found that the ban had virtually no impact on crime and public safety.  This bill would ban commonly owned semi-automatic firearms.

H.7264 by Rep. Caldwell bans large capacity feeding devices for use in firearms.  This bill caps magazine capacity at 10 rounds.  Criminals do not follow magazine restrictions.  This bill is dangerous because it does nothing except disadvantage law-abiding citizens in life-or-death self-defense situations. 

H.7327 by Rep. Tanzi increases the age from 18 to 21 for lawful possession, sale or transfer of firearms or ammunition.  This bill completely denies a group of legal adults their constitutionally guaranteed right to self-defense.

H.7715 by Rep. Diaz prohibits the possession of firearms on school grounds by anyone other than law enforcement.  This bill does nothing more than create another gun-free zone where criminals prey on helpless victims.  It is also important to understand that this bill is a solution in search of a problem, as there is no substantial evidence that a problem with current state law exists.  

H.7720 by Rep. Caldwell mandates secure storage of firearms.  This bill renders a person’s firearm useless when needed for self-defense.  This should be a matter of personal responsibility as everyone’s situation is different. 

There is also an important pro-gun bill on the agenda Wednesday.

H.7741 by Rep. Noret creates an appeals process for concealed carry permit denials. 

The agenda contains over a dozen guns bills, and members can locate the complete agenda HERE.

It’s critical that you contact your representatives and respectfully request that they oppose the above gun control bills.  However, it’s even more important that you join fellow Rhode Island gun owners at the Statehouse.  Again, we ask that you please wear yellow and stand in solidarity against these unconstitutional infringements.