Legislative updates, court decisions, and regulatory changes affecting Rhode Island firearms law.
Senate bill that would create a rebuttable legal defense for vehicle owners or occupants who injure or kill a person committing robbery of their motor vehicle while acting in self-defense.
Several pro-gun bills were introduced in 2026: S2285 would increase the sentences for stolen firearm offenses, H7753 and S2292 make it a felony to disarm a peace officer and were signed by the Governor on June 18, 2026, H7128 and S2053 would mandate arming campus police, and S2283 would create a cause of action against a person or entity that prohibits firearms on real property other than a residence.
Senate Bill 2306 would permit the possession or use of a suppressor on a firearm longer than 17 inches and its use while hunting with a valid hunting license, and would bar any city, town or other state or local agency from enacting rules that require or mandate the use of a suppressor.
Companion bills H7035 and S2295 would prohibit a person from purchasing or taking possession of more than one firearm, meaning a pistol, rifle or shotgun, in any 30-day period, with exemptions that include law enforcement officers, an estate representative or heir acting under a probate court authorization, participants in a course of instruction, temporary range rentals, and transfers of curios or relics to licensed collectors.
House Bill 7754 would eliminate the provision of RIGL 11-47-11 under which a person with a permit from another state could apply to the licensing authority of a city or town for a Rhode Island permit on the basis of that permit.
Five bills (H7553, S2163, S2164, S2277, S2153) propose sweeping reforms to Rhode Island's concealed carry system, from a formal appeal process for denied permits to interstate reciprocity agreements and a complete overhaul of the permitting framework.
Senate Bill 2155 would allow lawful Rhode Island residents age 21 and older who are not otherwise prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm to carry a concealed handgun without a permit, provided they have a certificate of qualification, a pistol/revolver or hunter safety certificate, and a valid photo identification.
On June 26, 2025, the Governor signed S 0359 Substitute A, enacted as Chapter 281 of the 2025 Public Laws, which added chapter 11-47.2 on prohibited firearms to the General Laws. The law, codified as P.L. 2025, ch. 281, bans the sale, transfer, and future acquisition of assault weapons using a feature-based test. It takes effect July 1, 2026. The chapter prohibits manufacturing, selling, offering to sell, transferring or purchasing a prohibited firearm and does not prohibit possessing one.
P.L. 2024, ch. 107 and ch. 108 amended RIGL 11-47-60.1 to add a standalone unsafe-storage duty with civil fines for a first and second offense, and made criminal storage in the first degree a felony when a firearm obtained by a child or a prohibited person is used in a crime or causes injury.
In June 2022, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted a large capacity feeding device ban (P.L. 2022, ch. 99) and two companion acts (P.L. 2022, ch. 135 and ch. 136) that raised the age for firearm sales to 21 and regulated ammunition sales. The legislation banned large capacity magazines (over 10 rounds), raised the minimum age for firearms purchases to 21, and imposed new requirements on ammunition sales.
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