2026 Suicide Prevention and Voluntary Restriction Bills

Four 2026 bills address firearms and suicide prevention through voluntary firearm restriction lists and suicide awareness signs at shooting ranges^[1].

Voluntary Firearm Restriction Lists (H7636 / S2971)

House Bill 7636 (Reps. Boylan, Caldwell, Casimiro, and others) and Senate Bill 2971 (Sens. Valverde, Lauria, Kallman, and others) would create a voluntary program, administered by the department of attorney general, allowing an individual to request placement on a restricted list that prohibits the individual from purchasing or possessing any firearm. Key features:

• Individuals can choose temporary or indefinite restriction periods
• The program includes confidentiality protections
• Penalties would be a $25 civil fine for firearm possession by a listed person and a misdemeanor for adding a person to a list without their knowledge
• Administrative procedures for requesting removal from the list

Similar programs exist in Virginia and Washington state.

Shooting Range Signage Enacted (H8069 / S2958)

House Bill 8069 (Reps. Donovan, Boylan, Tanzi, and others) and Senate Bill 2958 (Sens. DiPalma, Lauria, DiMario, LaMountain) passed both chambers in amended Substitute A form and were signed into law on June 18, 2026. The new law adds RIGL 11-47-60.5, which requires every shooting range to conspicuously post warning signs, in English and Spanish, in any area where shooting activity occurs. Each sign must be at least 8.5 by 11 inches with black text on a white background in at least 36-point font, directing anyone experiencing distress or depression to call the 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline or text HOME to 741741. A shooting range that operates on a membership basis must also require any non-member to be accompanied at all times by a member or a staff member of the range while on the premises and while engaging in shooting activity. The enacted Substitute A contains no employee training requirement and took effect upon passage. The original bill's employee training provision would have started on January 1, 2027.

Current Status

The two tracks ended differently. H7636 and S2971, the voluntary restriction list bills, were heard by their respective Judiciary Committees between April 8 and April 14, 2026 and held for further study. Neither bill passed before the House and Senate recessed on June 11, 2026. Neither chamber's published journal index lists a later meeting as of October 20, 2026. H8069 and S2958 passed and were signed into law on June 18, 2026, as Chapters 99 and 98 of the 2026 Public Laws. On the same day the Governor signed H7753 and S2292, which make disarming a peace officer a felony. The voluntary lists would sit alongside the court-ordered Extreme Risk Protection Order process in chapter 8-8.3 of title 8.