Permit Reform

Senate Bill S0129 – Senators Coyne, Seveney, DiMario, DiPalma, and Euer
House Bill 6146 – Knight, Caldwell, Speakman, Ajello, Batista

Streamlining the Process

Currently concealed carry permit (CCP) applications can be processed through the Office of the Attorney General and all thirty-nine Rhode Island cities and towns. This legislation will standardize the permitting process which is an important part of reducing gun crimes by:

  • Helping law enforcement confirm that a gun owner remains eligible to possess firearms
  • Facilitating the removal of firearms from people who have become ineligible

This act would repeal the authority to local authorities to issue permits to carry concealed weapons and gives the attorney general the authority to issue permits, repeals provisions allowing minors, under certain conditions to carry firearms, requires a national criminal background check on every applicant for a concealed carry permit, requires local law enforcement to cooperate in the permitting process and repeals provisions allowing permits to be issued to law enforcement officers who have retired in good standing after at least twenty (20) years of service.

RI Law Enforcement and Public Safety Officials Support This Legislation

R

Rhode Island Attorney General

R

Rhode Island State Police

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Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association

Do Guns in Public Make Us Safer?

The evidence says no, and that the risk of gun death and injury far outweigh any purported benefit to the public.

Johns Hopkins University Says No in “Concealed Carry of Firearms: Facts vs. Fiction.”

Johns Hopkins Study - Concealed Carry of Firearms

More Guns = More Gun Violence

Right-to-Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment

“RTC laws are consistently shown to increase violent crime, with the 10th-year increase ranging from a low of 13.5 to a high of 14.3 percent.”

The Relationship Between Gun Ownership and Firearm Homicide Rates

“States with higher levels of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.”

Firearms and accidental deaths: Evidence from the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting 

“The spike in gun exposure that followed the Sandy Hook school shooting increased the incidence of accidental firearm deaths, particularly among children.”

Background Checks Continue to Surge

92% Increase

in RI NICS Checks

Source: FBI NICS Firearm Checks

January 2021 RI NICS Checks

2,701

January 2020 RI NICS Checks

Massive Surge in 2020 Background Checks Coincides with Dramatic Rise in Gun Violence

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