Rhode Island Democrats Push Bill Threatening Residents Who Possess ‘Assault Weapons’ With 10 Years in Prison

Democratic lawmakers in Rhode Island are considering a bill that could lead to residents facing 10 years in prison if they possess a so-called “assault weapon.”Last year, the Democrat-controlled legislature passed legislation that aimed to phase out the rifles. The law focuses on certain features of a firearm to determine whether it is an “assault weapon,” such as whether it is a semi-automatic gun that has a fixed magazine that holds more than 10 rounds or a grenade launcher. But lawmakers in the Ocean State want to go even further and require that residents sell or transfer their legally purchased “assault weapons,” or face up to 10 years in jail or a fine of up to $10,000.The existing law states, “No person shall manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, or purchase a prohibited firearm, except as otherwise authorized.”If the bill passes, it would change the law to state, “No person shall possess, manufacture, sell, offer to sell, transfer, or purchase a prohibited firearm, except as otherwise authorized under this section.”It would require anyone who “lawfully possesses a prohibited firearm prior to July 1, 2026,” the date when the ban on the sale and manufacture of such firearms takes effect, to transfer their gun to another person outside of the state by December 31, 2026. A Democratic state senator who supports the bill, Dawn Euer, cited the December shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and the shooting at a youth hockey game that left three dead as justification for changing the law. “As a staunch advocate of common-sense gun laws, I believe that we need to pass a comprehensive assault weapons bill to keep Rhode Islanders safe,” she said.The updated “assault weapons” ban has sparked significant backlash on social media from gun rights activists. The vice president of the Rhode Island Firearms Owners’ League, Glenn Valentine, said in a post on X that the Brown University shooter or the gunman behind the hockey shooting “would ignore the [assault weapons ban.”“Maybe Dawn knows nothing about guns and the legislation she sponsored,” he said. The House minority leader, Michael Chippendale, told the Providence Journal that the arrest of an individual in Newport who claimed online he had a right to own illegal firearms proves that the state’s existing laws are working. Mr. Chippendale said that banning possession of firearms is “either pure ignorance of the very laws they themselves passed, or an attempt to shamelessly use recent tragedies as a political vehicle to advance a broader agenda.”He also said that the shooting at Brown University and the hockey game “involved individuals with severe and documented mental health issues,” and that “lumping all of these events together in order to justify sweeping new gun bans is not serious policymaking.”According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, there are eleven states that ban the sale, manufacture, and transfer of “assault weapons.”However, the states with the bans generally have exemptions for “assault weapons” that were legally purchased before the prohibition took effect, allowing firearm owners to keep the guns that they already have.Rhode Island’s bill, if passed, would be the first in the nation to require residents to give up their firearms.The lead sponsor of the House bill, Teresa Tanzi, told the Providence Journal that there will be “lots of lawyers who will have a final say” in the bill, in anticipation of legal challenges to the idea of forcing people to surrender their firearms. The Democratic Senate leader, Frank Ciccone, told the Providence Journal that he thinks there is a “50-50” chance the legislature passes another gun bill this year.

Rhode Island Democrats Push Bill Threatening Residents Who Possess ‘Assault Weapons’ With 10 Years in Prison

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