Anger, frustration on both sides of gun divide as RI legislature nears end Katherine Gregg The Providence Journal
Anger, frustration on both sides of gun divide as RI legislature nears end
One of the four bills in the package was withdrawn at the last minute at the request of the lead House sponsor — Rep. Justine Caldwell — before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees voted.
Instead of requiring the locked storage of firearms not in use, the reworked bill would have offered a tax credit for the purchase of a gun safe.
The proposal angered advocates seeking a safe-storage mandate who, in post after post online, cited the suicide in the summer of 2020 of Allyson Dosreis, who killed herself with the unlocked gun of her partner, who was at the time a firearm safety instructor for the state police.
By the time it was posted for a vote, Caldwell said, the bill " bore no resemblance to the original bill supported by all the general officers and a majority of my House colleagues.'' and "it would not have made an impact on reducing gun accidents and suicides."
The three remaining gun-related bills headed to the full House and Senate for votes in the final days of this year's legislative session include:
◘ A prohibition on the concealed-carry of guns on school grounds, except by police and security guards. (Current state and federal law exempts people with concealed-carry permits.)
◘ A ban on straw purchases of guns by intermediaries for people ineligible to buy firearms.
◘ Enhanced gun-crimes reporting by the attorney general.
There was anger on both sides of the gun divide in the hours leading up to Monday's scheduled House and Senate committee votes on a package of late-moving gun bills.
From the left, there is anger that legislation to limit high-capacity magazines to 10 rounds of ammunition isn't in the four-bill package slated for votes, despite the co-sponsorship of more than half the members in both the House and Senate.
Caldwell, the lead sponsor in the House, vented her anger and frustration on Twitter over the weekend:
"The reality is that this year we have unprecedented support in the chambers and in our state, but without consulting with me or @gaylegoldin, the sponsor in the Senate, three rich white guys decided on a slate of gun bills that gave as much to the NRA as it did to their majority."
Jennifer Boylan, a lobbyist for the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, tweeted her own dismay that a "safe storage gun bill was gutted & swapped out for a gun safe tax credit bill written by pro-gun lawmakers. It's beyond disappointing.''
From the right, there is anger over "anti-gun bills being rammed through in the last week of the session. The 'deal' includes banning concealed carry on school grounds, forcing gun owners to unhoster, unload, store, reload and reholster a weapon 1 ft from school grounds.
"So now we're legislating unsafe handling of firearms," the Rhode Island Firearm Owners' League posted on Facebook.
"They are banking on you not paying attention and not making any noise. This is how you lose your rights,'' the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action wrote on its website.
The top target of the gun-rights lobby is legislation banning the concealed-carry of a firearm on school grounds, except by police and hired security officers.
The NRA argument: "This legislation is a solution in search of a problem,'' which nonetheless "creates new and potentially dangerous problems, as it would require gun owners to unload in the parking lot and then leave their firearm in an unattended vehicle."
The NRA also took issue with one of Attorney General Peter Neronha's top priorities this year: legislation to outlaw the "straw purchases" of weapons by intermediaries, for people who are not eligible to buy the weapons for various reasons, including their criminal records.
The NRA's take on this bill: "What this bill really does is create traps to ensnare those who might “transfer” firearms. Simply handing-off a gun from instructor to student could potentially result in serious legal jeopardy. The bill creates a new felony and would result in a lifetime gun ban."
The NRA had no quarrel with an enhanced gun-crimes reporting bill sponsored by several of the legislature's biggest gun-rights supporters, but took issue with a bill to encourage safe gun storage that no longer contains a mandate. As it stands, the bill offers a tax credit for buying a gun safe.
The NRA argument: "Micromanaging safety practices inside one’s home by mandating firearms be under lock and key denies the basic right to self-defense and is a flagrant violation of a person’s constitutional rights."
In the end, Senate leaders mustered the votes needed to pass the most controversial bill in the package — the proposed school-grounds gun ban — by a committee dominated 5 to 3 by NRA-endorsed and "A" rated legislators.
With an assist from Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey, the school gun ban won a 7-to-5 vote of approval in the Senate Judiciary Commitee.
The ayes: Democrats Cynthia Coyne, John Burke, Dawn Euer, Ana Quezada, Maryellen Goodwin, McCaffrey and Ruggerio. The nays: Democrats Frank Lombardi, Stephen Archambault and Republicans Gordon Rogers, Jessica de la Cruz and Dennis Algiere.
The vote was even tighter in the House: 9 to 8, with House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and House Majority Leader Chrisopher Blazejewski tipping the balance.
The ayes: Democrats Robert Craven, Carol McEntee, Jason Knight, Edith Ajello, Jose Batista, Leonela Felix, John Lombardi, Shekarchi and Blazejewski. The nays: Democrats David Bennett, Julie Casimiro, Arthur Corvese, Thomas Noret, Camille Vella Wilkinson and Republicans David Place, Sherry Roberts and Blake Filippi.
Shekarchi and Ruggerio issued this joint statement over the weekend about the gun package headed for votes in both their chambers:
“We have been consulting throughout the session with our members, Governor [Dan] McKee and Attorney General Neronha, and both of our Judiciary Committees heard many hours of public testimony and reviewed thousands of emails submitted to the committees.
"The straw purchase ban is one of the Attorney General’s highest priorities, and all four bills will be impactful.”
With reports from Patrick Anderson
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