On June 26, 2025, Governor of Rhode Island (D) Dan McKee signed into law a ban on the manufacture, purchase, sale or transfer of certain firearms. The firearms affected were semi-automatic shotguns with fixed magazine capacity exceeding six rounds, shotguns with revolving cylinders, and semi-automatic rifles with fixed magazine capacity exceeding ten rounds.
In addition, the ban covers semi-automatic rifles which can accept a detachable magazine and which have any one or more of the following characteristics:
- folding or telescoping stock
- bayonet mount
- grenade launcher
- shroud which protects the non-trigger hand, except an extension of the stock on the bottom of the barrel
- pistol grip or thumbhole stock
- flash suppressor or threaded barrel which could accept the same
The ban also covers semi-automatic pistols with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding 10 rounds and any semi-automatic firearm that can accept a belt ammunition feeding device.
The ban does not include .22 rimfire rifles with attached tubular magazines. The ban does not appear to include pistols with detachable magazines or semi-automatic shotguns with detachable magazines.
On February 27, 2026, Democrats in the Senate introduced a bill to add possession to the prohibitions already passed in 2025. This changes the ban on obtaining the affected firearms into a ban on possessing them.
Senate sponsors to add “Possession” are: Alana M. DiMario, district 36;Dawn Euer, district 13; Meghan E. Kallman, district 15; Pamela J. Lauria, district 32; Tiara T. Mack, district 6; Mark P. McKenney, district 30; Linda L. Ujifusa, district 11; Bridget Valverde, district 35; and Samuel D. Zurier, district 3.
The Rhode Island Senate contains 38 senators. 17 are women, 21 are men. Four are Republicans, 34 are Democrats. All of the sponsors of the bill to ban possession are Democrats, seven of the nine sponsors are women.
Rhode Island is a deep blue state. As mentioned, on 4 of the 38 Senators are Republican. Only 10 of 75 representatives are Republican. The Governor, Daniel McKee, is a Democrat. The legislature already passed the bill banning the manufacture, purchase, sale, or transfer of the listed firearms.
As Rhode Island lawmakers push what the NRA calls one of the most aggressive gun-control proposals yet, John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, issued a statement condemning the measure.
“This radical Rhode Island gun grab is a microcosm of what we are seeing across the country. Year after year, progressive politicians continue to implement cookie-cutter gun control laws that erode the rights of law-abiding citizens. Now, just one year after banning the sale of so-called ‘assault weapons’ in Rhode Island, anti-gun advocates want to outright ban the possession of the most commonly owned firearms in the United States. This extreme and unconstitutional proposal would not advance public safety in the state. Instead, it would simply disarm and endanger lawful citizens who want to protect their families from violent criminals in the Ocean State.”
There are several court cases involving outright bans on commonly owned firearms. As many of the banned firearms are in common use in the United States, the Supreme Court is likely to strike down these bans at some point in the future. The Supreme Court has refused to do so at present. It refused to hear the case Snope v. Brown.
It is unclear whether the new bill will be passed, as it makes the original law more likely to be found unconstitutional. With supermajorities of Democrats in the House and Senate, passage is plausible. The longer the Supreme Court takes to hear an “assault weapons” ban, the more states will thumb their noses at the Supreme Court precedent in the Bruen decision.
In 2022, a federal district court found the banning of stun guns in Rhode Island to be unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The judge in the case was William E. Smith. Judge Smith assumed senior status in 2024. He might or might not be assigned to hear a challenge to the current weapons ban.
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About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
