2026 Stun Gun Legalization Bills: H7650, H8072, S2395, and H8070

Multiple bills in the 2026 session would legalize stun gun and electronic dart gun possession for Rhode Island adults, reflecting a bipartisan push to modernize the state's self-defense laws^[1].

The Bills

H7650 (Reps. Lima, Fellela, Place, and others) and H8072 (Reps. Casey, Chippendale, Hopkins, and others) would permit adults 18 and older to purchase and carry stun guns. Both bills criminalize sales to minors and add enhanced penalties for use in the commission of a crime or against law enforcement officers.

S2395 (Sens. Thompson, Dimitri, Burke, and nine others) is the Senate companion, similarly legalizing adult stun gun possession with minor-sale prohibitions and criminal-use penalties.

H8070 (Reps. Hopkins, Casimiro, Casey, and others) takes a narrower approach, specifically permitting college and university students, professors, and employees to carry stun guns and pepper spray on campus for self-defense.

Current Law

Rhode Island currently restricts stun gun and electronic dart gun possession. The state is one of a shrinking number that still effectively bans civilian stun gun ownership. Multiple federal court decisions in recent years have found stun gun bans unconstitutional under the Second Amendment (see Caetano v. Massachusetts, 2016).

Current Status

The Rhode Island General Assembly's 2026 regular session adjourned sine die on June 11, 2026, without any of these four bills passing^[2]. The bills would need to be reintroduced in a future session. The stun gun restriction in RIGL 11-47-42 remains on the books unchanged, although a federal district court held the ban unconstitutional and unenforceable as applied to stun guns in O'Neil v. Neronha (D.R.I. 2022).