Providence, Rhode Island, (AP) Legislation that would prohibit the production and sale of numerous semiautomatic rifles, sometimes known as assault weapons, was approved by the Democratic-controlled state House of Rhode Island on Friday.
Democratic Governor Dan McKee, who stated in a post on the social media site X on Friday night that he intends to sign the bill into law, will now review the idea. If that occurs, Rhode Island will join ten states that have some form of restriction on powerful firearms, which were previously prohibited nationwide and are now mostly used by the perpetrators of the majority of the nation’s horrific mass shootings.
For over ten years, proponents of gun control have pushed for Rhode Island to outlaw assault rifles. But politicians in the nation’s smallest state have long argued over the necessity and legitimacy of such ideas, even though the state is a Democratic bastion.
The bill does not include possession; it solely covers the manufacture and sale of assault weapons. The only state with a comparable law is Washington. Additionally, residents will not be able to buy assault weapons from neighboring New Hampshire or from other locations. According to federal law, it is illegal for someone to buy a gun in one state and then bring it back to another where that same kind of weapon is illegal.
Assault weapon ownership is prohibited in nine states and the District of Columbia, including large cities like New York and Los Angeles. Assault pistols are illegal in Hawaii.
During Friday’s floor arguments, Democratic Representative Rebecca Kislak characterized the bill as a step toward bringing Rhode Island into line with its neighbors.
“We should do more, and I am really disappointed that we are not doing more,” she remarked. And I’m voting to take action if I have the choice between doing something and nothing.
The proposed ordinance in Rhode Island was opposed on the grounds that assault weapons prohibitions merely penalize those who possess such rifles and have no effect on stopping mass killings.
Sen. Thomas Paolino, a Republican, stated that this bill only burdens law-abiding residents rather than targeting criminals.
House minority leader, Republican Rep. Michael Chippendale, said the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually rule that the legislation was unconstitutional if it were to become law.
He said, “We are wasting money on this.”
The opposition to the Act was not limited to Republicans. The Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence and gun control activist David Hogg, who survived the 2018 Parkland, Florida school shooting, called the proposed ban the nation’s weakest assault weapons prohibition.
I am confident that Rhode Islanders are entitled to a robust bill that forbids both the sale and ownership of assault weapons. According to Hogg’s statement, public safety is the result of this combination.
Everytown for Gun Safety’s policy counsel, Elisabeth Ryan, denied assertions that the proposed legislation is ineffective.
Ryan claimed that Rhode Island’s current law, which does not forbid assault rifles, is the weakest. Similar to the law currently in effect in Washington state, this would establish a genuine, enforceable ban on the production and sale of assault weapons, permanently removing them from the shelves of gun shops in Rhode Island.
Gun rights organizations have filed legal challenges against assault weapons prohibitions across the country, claiming they violate the Second Amendment. Among the nation’s top-selling rifles are AR-15-style weapons.
The matter may soon be heard by the conservative-majority Supreme Court. In early June, three conservative justices—Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas—publicly expressed their disapproval of the justices’ decision to not consider a challenge to Maryland’s assault weapons ban. Brett Kavanaugh, the fourth, expressed doubts about the constitutionality of the prohibitions and said he expected the court to consider a case within the next term or two.
From Seattle, Golden provided a report. This report was written by Lindsay Whitehurst of the Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and David Lieb of Jefferson City, Mo.
