ILA | Rhode Island: Gun Control Night – Round 2

A couple of weeks after Rhode Island gun owners flooded the Statehouse with a sea of yellow for House hearings on gun bills, lawmakers are returning to Providence to hold another round.  This time it’s the Senate’s turn.  The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin proceedings on this legislative package at the Rise of the Senate on Tuesday, April 2 (approximately 4 p.m.)

NRA members and Rhode Island gun owners need to answer the call again to make sure these bills do not advance.  We are strongly encouraging gun owners to go to the Statehouse and rally with fellow gun owners.  Once again, please wear yellow in solidarity with other gun owners.  Also, please contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and strongly urge them to OPPOSE the below gun control bills:

The committee’s agenda can be viewed here.

S.84 by Sen. Coyne – Prohibits the manufacturing, importation, sale, shipment, delivery, possession, or transfer of any firearm that is undetectable by metal detectors commonly used at airports and public buildings including 3D printed firearms.  Undetectable firearms have been illegal for nearly 30 years under federal law. 

S.156 by Sen. Coyne – Limits the issuance of pistol and revolver carry permits to the office of the attorney general.  This bill would essentially eliminate “shall issue,” as those permits are issued by local law enforcement.

S.464 by Sen. Coyne – Defines the term “ghost gun” and bans the manufacture, sale purchase or possession of a machine gun, a ghost gun or an undetectable firearm.  Similar to S.84, undetectable firearms have been illegal for nearly 30 years under federal law. 

S.469 by Sen. Goodwin – Enhances penalties for failure to report lost or stolen firearms to the police department, and specify penalties for making a false report of lost or stolen firearms.

S.502 by Sen. Seveney – Requires firearms to be stored securely when not in use and enhances penalties for failure to store firearms in a secure manner.  Mandatory storage laws put law-abiding gun owners at a disadvantage in self-defense situations.

S.595 by Sen. Nesselbush – Requires that gun dealers on a monthly basis shall report a summary of all gun sales and transfers to the Rhode Island state police.  This is clearly a move to create a gun registry which directly violates the Rhode Island state Constitution.

S.635 by Sen. Miller – Bans possession, sale and transfer of so-called “assault weapons” which are not properly registered.  Despite what they want to call them, this bill would actually ban some of the most commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms in Rhode Island and impose a registry for those that already own them.

S.636 by Sen. Metts – Prohibits firearms possession within 300 feet of school grounds except for peace officers, retired law enforcement officers, persons providing school security, firearms on private property and unloaded firearms in containers or locked car racks.  Concealed carry is not currently restricted in this manner in K-12 schools under Rhode Island state law, and there have been no problems.

S.637 by Sen. Goldin – Prohibits sale/possession of a feeding device holding more than 10 ammunition rounds punishable by up to $5,000 fine or up to 5 years imprisonment with law enforcement/military personnel exceptions.  Placing an arbitrary limit on an ammunition magazine’s capacity does nothing but further restrict law-abiding gun owners from being able to effectively defend themselves. Criminals, by definition, do not follow the law and will not follow this one either.

Again, please attend the committee hearing on Tuesday, April 2, and wear yellow in solidarity with fellow gun owners to make your voices heard.  Also, please contact committee members about the above listed bills.