Click here to see the latest status of a bill.
Click here to find your legislator(s)

Please do not send emails from this form since the 2016 session is over

 
6-17-2016: It's down to the Wire.  The CCW reform bill passed the house, 
but it is being stalled in the Senate!
Please fill out the form to contact all the Senators and ask them to support 
S2647 right NOW since there are guys up there actively trying to 
STOP the bill at the last minute!!!

First Name*
Last Name*
Street*
City*
Your Email*
Phone#
Subject*	Please SUPPORT S2647!
Comments* (feel free to personalize the letter)	Senators, S2647 will make some great changes to the licensing process for CCW permits. There are changes to both the 11-47-11 and the 11-47-18 statutes that standardizes the application process. These are great improvements, especially when it comes to 11-47-11 since there are 39 different applications with a wide range of requirements- although they are "supposed" to be processed under the same statute. Not only does the bill provide a standard application, but it also sets a timeframe to process applications (some departments take over 1yr to process applications). The last important change is that there will be a process for appeals through the Rhode Island Superior Court. Today, there is no appeals process and denied applicants have to petition the Rhode Island Supreme Court for a review. This is a time consuming and expensive process for both the applicant and the licensing authorities and there is no guarantee the court will accept the case (this has happened). Although the laws are pretty clear that the licensing authorities Shall Issue a permit if the statutory requirements are met and the Rhode Island Supreme Court has in several cases sided with the Gun Owners, many licensing authorities still continue to ignore the law. The Rhode Island Police Chief's Association had their chance to oppose the bill at the Judiciary Hearings, but there were no opposition to the bill at the time. Please support S2647!

---

Senate Bill No. 2900 Sub A BY Goodwin ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACT (Establishes a domestic violence prevention fund which would be financed by an additional fee on marriage licenses and would have as its primary purpose, the prevention of domestic and dating violence.)

First Name*
Last Name*
Street*
City*
Your Email*
Phone#
Subject*	Please OPPOSE S2900 sub A!
Comments* (feel free to personalize the letter)	Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate President, Please do not support S2900 Sub A since it is fiscally irresponsible. The bill (http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText16/SenateText16/S2900A.pdf) places a $46 extra charge on marriage licenses, creating an anticipated $250,000 annual revenue to be used for "domestic violence" prevention programs. However, the bill does not require any legislative input, control or even oversight on who receives this money, or how it is spent. Rhode Island is one of the highest taxed states and with the current public outrage over government’s lack of fiscal accountability and transparency, this poorly written bill should not be passed into law. Please do NOT support S2900 Sub A. Thank you.

---

Alert! Senate Judiciary Hearing on April 26th, 2016. We need you to contact the Senate Judiciary Committee to stop the bad legislation and hopefully get some good legislation passed. The first form are the BAD bills and the second form has the GOOD bills so please fill out both forms! We encourage you to write you own letter and subject if you can. Click here for the agenda.

First Name*
Last Name*
Street*
City*
Your Email*
Phone#
Subject*	Please OPPOSE S2490,S2491,S2492,S2517,S2730,S2767,S2519,S2564,S2565,S2645,S2761!
Comments* (feel free to personalize the letter)	Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate President, Please OPPOSE the following bills: S2490/S2491: This would require an individual to relinquish ownership, not possession, of firearms in the event that a protective order is issue. What guarantees will the owner have that they will receive their property back when the protective order expires? Will a dealer be compelled to return property they now own? Will firearms be stored in a way that preserves the condition? Can law enforcement charge a storage fee? S2492: Does not allow an individual to immediately transfer firearms to another individual. Instead the owner must petition the court to allow firearms to be transferred through a dealer after 60 days. Depending on the number of firearms, and the dealer’s storage fees, the costs to transfer the firearms legally could exceed the value of the firearms. S2517: Relies on an overly broad defintion of Domestic Violence and if convicted of Domestic Violence a person cannot own or possess a firearm for 10 years after the sentence is completed. It is a very harsh sentence to give up your constitutional rights for a mis-demeanor violation. Let the evidence be presented to the court and let them decide the appropriate sentence. S2730: This act would take full advantage of the extremely broad and deep reaching Domestic Violence statutes in RI and all the loopholes contained therein, and force gun owners to relinquish OWNERSHIP of all of their firearms under certain sections of restraining orders or convictions. This would be the first known law allowing the state to take ownership of personal property that has no been used, a part of, or related to the crime being alleged. This is confiscation plain and simple. S2767: This bill also relies on an overly broad definition of Domestic violence as a front for full blown gun confiscation. This will make the surrendering of firearms MANDATORY regardless of the evidence presented. This leaves the court no option to review the evidence in a case to determine if firearms were involved and there might not be a need to surrender the firearms. Let the prosecution present the evidence so the court can use this to make a decision. S2519: The serial number of a firearm is only required by law to be marked on the frame of the firearm, but manufacturer also include it on other parts of the gun such as on the frame or barrel. If for example a barrel is replaced, they would be in violation of this law. S2564: Anyone who needs to borrow a firearm for self defense purposes or any other lawful activity should be exempt. S2565: This will severely restrict where rifles and shotguns can lawfully be carried. It would even make it more restrictive than for pistols and revolvers if you have a CCW permit (these permits does not apply to rifles and hand guns). It is typically handguns that are used in crimes since they are more easily concealable and criminals rarely use long guns. If there is a huge problem with long guns in RI, I would like to see the data supporting this. S2645: This bill will make it too restrictive for minors that would like to participate in hunting and target shooting since they would not be able to transport the firearm without an adult. I think this legislation is a further erosion of our gun rights and a back-door law to alleviate the desire for law abiding citizens to introduce the shooting sports to the next generation of firearm enthusiast. I ask you do not pass this bill in its current form with the outstanding issues circulating around the aforementioned concerns. S2761: This bill will prohibit parents with a concealed carry permit who wants to be able to protect their children to pick up their children in schools or to attend any school sponsored event. This will make someone vulnerable against if they have a restraining order against another person since that person would know when and where someone will be un-armed and therefore more vulnerable. If a CCW permit holder would be forced the leave their gun in their car, it is more likely someone would see someone un-holster the gun (it would no longer be concealed) and cause un-necessary chaos if someone saw the firearm. S2835: Restricting magazines to a maximum capacity of 10 rounds will not make anyone safer, but could make law abiding citizens LESS safe against multiple attackers. Not only would this bill restrict firearm capacity to no more than 10 rounds but would also require you to sell magazines to a dealer, turn over them over to law enforcement for destruction or sell them out of state WITHOUT compensation! In many cases this would limit the types of firearms one could purchase since many firearms, designed specifically for self-defense, are engineered around a capacity of 12-15 rounds.

---

First Name*
Last Name*
Street*
City*
Your Email*
Phone#
Subject*	Please SUPPORT S2416 and S2647!
Comments* (feel free to personalize the letter)	Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate President, Please support S2416 since this bill will recognize CCW permits from from MA, CT, and UT. We recognize their driver's licenses and we should recognize their CCW permits. S2647 will make some great changes to the licensing process for CCW permits. There are changes to both the 11-47-11 and the 11-47-18 statutes that standardizes the application process. These are great improvements, especially when it comes to 11-47-11 since there are 39 different applications with a wide range of requirements- although they are "supposed" to be processed under the same statute. Not only does the bill provide a standard application, but it also sets a timeframe to process applications (some departments take over 1yr to process applications). The last important change is that there will be a process for appeals through the Rhode Island Superior Court. Today, there is no appeals process and denied applicants have to petition the Rhode Island Supreme Court for a review. This is a time consuming and expensive process for both the applicant and the licensing authorities and there is no guarantee the court will accept the case (this has happened). Although the laws are pretty clear that the licensing authorities Shall Issue a permit if the statutory requirements are met and the Rhode Island Supreme Court has in several cases sided with the Gun Owners, many licensing authorities still continue to ignore the law. Please support S2647!

---

Senate Bill No. 2416 BY Pagliarini, Lombardo, Morgan, Kettle, Lombardi ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES-WEAPONS Specifically allows individuals who possess a valid concealed weapon permit issued by Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Utah to carry a concealed firearm everywhere within Rhode Island.

Senate Bill No. 2490 BY Goodwin, Goldin, Gallo, Coyne, Paiva Weed ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE--COURTS -- DOMESTIC ASSAULT Provides that a respondent in domestic abuse cases wherein a protective order is issued may not possess, purchase or receive any firearms for a period not to exceed the duration of the restraining order.

Senate Bill No. 2491 BY Coyne, Conley, Nesselbush, Metts, Goodwin ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Prohibits any person subject to domestic assault/domestic abuse restraining orders/felony conviction for domestic violence/serving a sentence under community confinement from owning firearm.

Senate Bill No. 2492 BY Coyne, Nesselbush, Paiva Weed, Conley, Goodwin ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS Requires any person convicted of a felony domestic offense be ordered by the court to surrender all firearms in their possession, care, custody or control to either the state/local police or federally licensed firearms dlr and file proof with the court.

Senate Bill No. 2517 BY Goodwin, Miller, Gallo ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Prohibits those convicted under the "Domestic Violence Prevention Act" from possessing firearms for a period of 10 years.

Senate Bill No. 2519 BY Goodwin, Gallo, Lynch Prata, Miller, Lombardo ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS Includes orange or otherwise brightly colored plugs or tips inserted into the barrel of any firearm into the definition of "mark of identification" for those persons who change, alter, remove, or obliterate any mark of identification on a firearm.

Senate Bill No. 2563 BY Goldin, Coyne, Miller, Metts, Goodwin ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Requires that every person applying for a concealed weapons permit, whether through the local police department or through the office of the attorney general, to undergo a national criminal records check, including the submission of fingerprints.

Senate Bill No. 2564 BY Miller, Metts, Jabour, Nesselbush, Conley ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Provides that no person, entity, or dealer shall sell, loan, transfer or acquire a firearm from any person, entity or dealer with the intent to avoid the application/disclosure process required by §§11-47-35 or 11-47-35.2.

Senate Bill No. 2565 BY Miller, Metts, Jabour, Nesselbush, Conley ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Makes it unlawful to carry a rifle or shotgun in a vehicle or on one's person, visible or concealed, except at one's residence, place of business or land.

Senate Bill No. 2645 BY Metts ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Criminalizes the mere possession of a firearm by a minor, but would provide for limited exceptions while the minor is in the presence of a qualified adult or participating in certain competitive or ceremonial events.

Senate Bill No. 2647 BY Lombardo, McCaffrey, Kettle, Walaska, Archambault ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS Amends the application process for carrying a concealed weapon whether the application is to the city or town police chief or to the attorney general and it would provide for a review process for those applications that are denied.

Senate Bill No. 2730 BY Goodwin, Gallo ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS Precludes those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes under §12-29-2 from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Convictions for petty misdemeanors or expunged or pardoned convictions would not apply to this prohibition.

Senate Bill No. 2737 BY Lombardo, Lombardi, Archambault, Fogarty, Kettle ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - BIRDS Legalizes the taking of wild migratory birds by crossbow.

Senate Bill No. 2761 BY Metts ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Provides that only peace officers and persons approved by the school authorities for the purposes of educational instruction officers may carry firearms or other weapons on school grounds.

Senate Bill No. 2767 BY Metts ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Prohibits persons convicted of domestic violence crime subject to a restraining order from possessing, owning firearm and requires surrender of any owned possessed firearm to police while order is in effect and return when order is terminated.

Senate Bill No. 2796 BY Miller ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - SALE OF IVORY OR RHINOCEROS HORNS Prohibits any person from importing, selling, offering for sale, purchasing, bartering, or possessing with intent to sell, any ivory, ivory product, rhinoceros horn, or rhinoceros horn product, with limited exception & provides for fines for violations .

Senate Bill No. 2799 BY Coyne, Conley, Cote, Satchell, Archambault ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO FISH AND WILDLIFE - LICENSES Facilitates the issuance of hunting licenses by Internet application.

Senate Bill No. 2835 BY Goldin, Coyne, Miller, Goodwin, Nesselbush ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS Criminalizes the manufacture, import, possession, purchase, sale or transfer of any ammunition feeding device capable of accepting more than ten (10) rounds known as high capacity magazines.