Legislative updates, court decisions, and regulatory changes affecting Rhode Island firearms law.
Companion bills H7755 and S2726 would require persons seeking to purchase a firearm in Rhode Island, other than police and military personnel and the license holders the bills except, to complete and pass a basic firearm safety training course that includes live fire training, safe storage and Rhode Island firearms law. Certificate valid 5 years. Hearing scheduled April 8, 2026.
Two 2026 bills would change existing firearms restrictions: S2314 would make a first offense of possessing a large capacity feeding device a misdemeanor and subsequent offenses felonies, and S3038 would require a respondent under a temporary extreme risk protection order to be taken into protective custody and to an emergency room. H7133, sometimes listed with them, concerns household pets in domestic abuse protective orders.
Multiple bills address criminal penalties: H8067/S2056 bar felons from firearm possession, H8068/S3110 prohibit possession by persons under 18, and several minor bills adjust safe-storage naming, DCYF peace officers, and DV batterer program requirements.
Four bills address firearms and suicide prevention: H7636 and S2971 would create voluntary firearm restriction lists, and H8069 and S2958, now law, require shooting ranges to post crisis hotline signage.
Three bills, H7650, H8072 and S2395, would allow a person 18 or older to purchase a stun gun (H7650 also to possess one, H8072 and S2395 also an electronic dart gun), with criminal penalties for sales to people under 18 and for use in a crime or against a police officer, and a fourth, H8070, concerns college and university students and employees. A separate bill (H8070) would permit any student, professor or other employee of a public or private college or university to carry and possess a stun gun or pepper spray for self-defense.
Companion bills would require basic firearm safety training before purchasing or possessing any firearm in Rhode Island, with exemptions for law enforcement, military, and existing license holders.
House Bill 8075 would require all Rhode Island firearm owners to maintain $1,000,000 in liability insurance, with exemptions only for active-duty law enforcement and military personnel.
House Bill 8071 would require a background check before an ammunition sale or transfer, except sales or transfers to active law enforcement officers and bona fide wholesale sales to licensed retail dealers, and would bar ammunition possession by individuals prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
House Bill 8073, introduced on February 27, 2026, would restrict the possession of firearms classified as prohibited assault weapons under the 2025 ban. If enacted, it would add possession to the acts the chapter prohibits. A person who lawfully possessed a prohibited firearm before July 1, 2026 could sell, offer to sell or transfer it to a federally licensed firearm dealer or to an individual outside the state who may lawfully possess it, by December 31, 2026.
Companion bills in the House and Senate that would allow law enforcement agencies to consider expunged records when deciding whether to issue a license or permit to carry a pistol or revolver.
Companion bills would create a new regulatory framework holding firearm manufacturers and dealers civilly liable for industry practices, with fee-shifting provisions. The Senate version would take effect October 1, 2026.
House bill introduced February 2026 that would allow access to juvenile criminal records for the purpose of conducting firearm background checks in Rhode Island.
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