Update 02-02-23: The House version of the bill defines what would be prohibited nder the legislation. People who own such a gun for at least a year before the effective date would be exempt from the ban, although they would be required to register the weapon with their local police department
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Rhode Island’s five top statewide elected officials joined activists Tuesday in calling for a ban on new sales of military-style semi-automatic rifles.
Gov. Dan McKee, who used his State of the State speech earlier this month to call for the ban, was joined by other public officials during a Statehouse news conference in arguing the prohibition would help reduce the risk of gun violence.
“We have normalized what is not normal,” said Secretary of State Gregg Amore, who was a high school history teacher in East Providence for more than 27 years, referring to the number of mass shootings seen annually in America. “We have lock downs and active-shooter drills and active-shooter training, and when a lock down happens at a high school and it’s not identified as a drill, our kids text home because they’re so frightened.”
In the wake of a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Rhode Island’s General Assembly last year passed restrictions to cap magazine capacity at 10 rounds, raise the age to buy guns and ammunition from 18 to 21, and outlaw the carrying of loaded long guns in public places.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio remain non-committal on the proposed ban of new sales of what critics call assault weapons.
The proposed ban is sponsored by state Rep. Jason Knight (D-Barrington) and state Sen. Josh Miller (D-Cranston), although the bill was not introduced ahead of the news conference.
In a statement, the Rhode Island Revolver and Rifle Association criticized the proposal as a move in the wrong direction.
“Gun owners are being used as a diversion,” the group said. “Long-term solutions will never be found when our legislators are focused on imposing penalties and restrictions on law-abiding citizens. Violent criminals are the problem yet there is no legislation proposed to fix the broken system of releasing violent repeat offenders out into our neighborhoods. We need to invest more in our youth, low-income and diverse communities by implementing programs that will make all communities in Rhode Island equally safe and vibrant.”
Supporters of stricter regulations say voters have elected more lawmakers who support added gun restrictions. That shows, they said, that most Rhode Islanders support the approach.
Sydney Montstream-Quas of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence conceded that no law can single-handedly stop shootings. Still, she said banning new sales of semi-automatic rifles would enhance safety.
“With a ban of them, that just changes things in one direction, it’s one piece of the puzzle of continuing to address gun violence as a public health epidemic,” she said. “And it’s like any law. You make that law, you know it’s not going to be followed 100%, but you know it will make a difference.”
Attorney General Peter Neronha took up a similar theme. He said recently adopted gun laws have reduced the risk of gun violence in the state.
“This bill will do exactly the same thing,” Neronha said.
He said the guns specified in the Knight-Miller bill “are more lethal, they are able to fire more powerfully, more faster, across a greater range, both in terms of distance and in spray. And so this legislation, like the past legislation that has been passed and signed into law by this governor, will make Rhode Islanders safer.”
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
