Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prohibitions (RIGL 11-47-6)

Rhode Island restricts firearms access for persons with certain mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders. RIGL 11-47-6 directly prohibits a person under guardianship or treatment or confinement by virtue of being a mental incompetent, or adjudicated or under treatment or confinement as a drug addict, from purchasing, owning, carrying, transporting or possessing any firearm^[1]. The bar runs against the prohibited person, not merely against sellers or transferors.

Mental Incompetence

The statute does not define "mentally incompetent" with precision. Its operative language covers any person who is "under guardianship or treatment or confinement by virtue of being a mental incompetent"^[1]. That wording reaches further than the federal standard under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4)^[2], which prohibits firearms possession by any person "who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution." The statute reaches any person under guardianship or treatment or confinement by virtue of being a mental incompetent and any person adjudicated or under treatment or confinement as a drug addict, and its text does not mention whether the treatment was voluntary. The section names only those categories and does not mention counseling.

Drug Addiction

The state prohibition applies to a person who "has been adjudicated or is under treatment or confinement as a drug addict." A positive drug test alone does not trigger the state prohibition without such an adjudication, treatment, or confinement. The federal parallel under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) bars any person who is "an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance" from possessing firearms, and under 27 CFR 478.11 an unlawful user is a person who regularly uses a controlled substance over an extended period continuing into the present, without a lawful prescription or in a manner different from that prescribed. The prohibition is not limited to users of particular substances. It applies to an unlawful user of or a person addicted to any controlled substance as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, which under 27 CFR 478.11 includes marijuana regardless of state-level decriminalization. Under DEA final rule 2026-08176, effective April 28, 2026, marijuana in an FDA-approved drug product or subject to a state medical marijuana license is in schedule III, so it remains a controlled substance.^[5]

Reporting Requirements

Rhode Island participates in the NICS reporting system, which means that qualifying mental health adjudications and commitments are submitted to the federal NICS database. When a licensed dealer contacts NICS, the dealer may proceed with the transfer on a proceed notification and may not proceed on a denial. However, gaps in reporting have been identified nationwide, and not all qualifying records may be in the system^[3].

Relief from Mental Health Prohibition

RIGL 11-47-6 provides its own restoration pathway. A person affected by the section, other than a person pronounced criminally insane, may apply to purchase firearms after five years have passed from the date of being pronounced cured by competent medical authority. The application must be supported by an affidavit from competent medical authority stating that the applicant is a mentally stable person and a proper person to possess firearms. Separately, a person who is subject to the disqualifiers of 18 U.S.C. 922(d)(4) and 922(g)(4) or RIGL 40.1-5-8 because of an adjudication commitment under Rhode Island law may petition the relief from disqualifiers board under RIGL 11-47-63. The board grants relief if it finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the petitioner is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief will not be contrary to the public interest. The petitioner's record must include a certificate of a medical doctor or psychiatrist licensed in Rhode Island certifying that the person is no longer suffering from a mental disorder that interferes with handling deadly weapons, and the board may require a clinical evaluation and risk assessment.