Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is poised to sign into law a bill that will ban the sale and manufacture — but not the use or possession — of guns defined as assault weapons.
Any uncertainty about the legislative path for the bill ended when the House of Representatives approved the measure on a 43-to-28 vote at about 9:25 p.m. Friday, on the last day of the General Assembly session.
The legislation transmitted to the desk of Gov. Dan McKee is a Senate version of the bill, sponsored by Sen. Louis DiPalma (D-Middletown). It’s less restrictive than a House version sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight (D-Barrington).
Asked how seriously he thought about not passing the Senate bill or insisting on the House version, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi told The Public’s Radio, “We gave it a lot of consideration, and ultimately at the end of the day my leadership team made an effort to talk to the members and you see the reflection in the vote — the overwhelming majority of the members felt that this bill was better than no bill at all this year.”
Prior to the vote in the House, Knight spoke in support of the Senate bill, saying it would get the state to roughly the same place as his bill.
Some other state reps lamented that they were not voting on Knight’s bill, but said it was still worth supporting the Senate bill.
“I ask my colleagues to support this bill as it will greatly reduce the market and availability of assault weapons within our state,” said Rep. Jennifer Boylan (D-Barrington). “This bill cuts off the supply of these weapons of war for the long haul at the point of sale.”
Once the new gun law takes effect, federal law will prevent Rhode Islanders from buying out of state the prohibited guns in the new measure. Supporters say that will combine with the state law to gradually reduce the number of “assault weapons” in the state.
The Senate bill does not create what critics called a de facto gun registry, and it defines fewer guns as ‘assault weapons.’ It would take effect in July 2026.
Opponents noted how Rhode Island has a low rate of gun violence and how most of that occurs through the use of hand guns.
On the other side, state Rep. Rebecca Kislak (D-Providence) compared the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, to an incident in China around the same time when many people were stabbed but none died.
“Assault weapons kill people faster,” she said. “So I wish we were voting on the same bill we already passed, but a ban on sales brings us in line with our neighboring states. I am gravely disappointed we are not doing more, and we should do more.”
Activists have been working since the Newtown shooting to ban guns defined as assault weapons, and this was the first year that legislation to do that got a legislative vote.
House GOP Leader Mike Chippendale (R-Foster) said it was past the time where lawmakers would be swayed by new arguments.
But the bill passed by the House “will nonetheless result in a costly legal challenge for the taxpayers which we were trying to avoid,” he said, “and we still feel that this law will be deemed unconstitutional at some eventual point by the Supreme Court of the U.S.”
Reaction was mixed.
In a statement, Gov. McKee said, “I’m proud that Rhode Island took an important step forward in protecting our communities from gun violence. I included an assault weapons ban in my budget for this very reason — and as a result, tonight we saw progress. I thank the General Assembly and the many advocates for their tireless work, and I hope they will join me when I sign this piece of legislation into law.”
Via statement, RI GOP Chairman Joe Powers called the gun vote “a disgrace. Democrats in this state have abandoned the Constitution, abandoned the people and embraced a one-party dictatorship that no longer hides its contempt for freedom.”
John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, which lobbied for the Rhode Island bill, said via statement, “Rhode Island lawmakers just reaffirmed that in an age of political dysfunction, gun safety can bridge the divide and bring people together around common-sense measures to keep their communities safe. With the passage of this law, 15 states either ban or require a permit to purchase these weapons of war.”
Earlier, the Senate passed its version of the gun bill on a 25-11 vote.
The vote came after an effort by Sen. Pam Lauria (D-Barrington) to substitute the House version of the gun bill for the Senate version was ruled out of order through a vote of the Senate.
