How Rhode Island finally pushed a partial assault weapons ban over the finish line

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Passing a new law restricting assault weapons took Rhode Island lawmakers more than 10 years, but it may offer a road map to other states looking to ease the proliferation of such firearms.

For advocates, the fight is a prime example of the current challenges to passing gun control measures in the U.S., particularly surrounding semiautomatic rifles that have become the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country’s devastating mass shootings.

When Rhode Island’s bill was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Dan McKee late last month, its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jason Knight, told jubilant supporters: “What was once the impossible became the inevitable.”

How? Persistent advocacy, a change in legislative leadership and a last-minute overhaul to note the broader legal landscape.

What did Rhode Island do?

Rhode Island’s ban, which goes into effect in 2026, prohibits the sale, manufacturing and distribution of certain high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide. The law does not prohibit possessing such weapons, a key distinction compared with other assault weapon bans enacted elsewhere in the U.S.

Currently, only Washington state has a similar law.

A leadership change helped propel momentum

The assault weapons ban got a much-needed boost from Senate President Valerie Lawson, who secured the Senate’s top spot in the middle of session after her predecessor, Sen. Dominick Ruggiero, died in April. Lawson turned to the bill’s sponsors and others to find common ground between lawmakers in the House and Senate who remained split on how far the law should go.

Lawson’s endorsement was seen as critical to securing the bill’s passage, whereas Ruggiero had previously deferred action, pointing instead to the need for Congress to act rather than a state Legislature taking the lead.

“There are issues at certain points that meet the moment,” Lawson said. “I think it was the time for this.”

Gun control advocates also acknowledged that banning assault weapons in Rhode Island hadn’t previously been a top priority given that the state has largely been spared from national high-profile shootings that sometimes help propel legislative change.

Assault weapons bans consistently face court challenges

In the U.S., just 11 states and Washington D.C. have some sort of prohibition on certain high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide. Rhode Island’s version is the only one not yet facing a constitutional challenge — though a lawsuit against it is all but assured.

Certain state legal battles are on hold until others make their way through lower federal courts. To date, none of the lawsuits have been completely thrown out, but the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to have the final say.

As Rhode Island lawmakers were in the middle of their gun debate, the high court declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s assault weapons ban — a move that some of the more conservative justices opposed. Justice Brett Kavanaugh even signaled that laws banning assault weapons are likely unconstitutional.

“Opinions from other Courts of Appeals should assist this Court’s ultimate decision making on the AR–15 issue,” Kavanaugh wrote, referencing a popular style of high-powered rifle.

Yet the legal focus on banning such weapons often hinges on possessing firearms such as AR-15-style rifles and AK-47s, rather than on the distribution process. Rhode Island lawmakers hope that by tailoring their assault weapons ban to sales, manufacturing and distribution, they might will bypass the thorniest legal questions raised by the Second Amendment.

What other states are doing

Attempts to expand Democratic-dominated Hawaii’s assault weapons ban to rifles in addition to pistols stalled this year. In New Mexico, Democratic lawmakers who control the General Assembly adjourned without taking up an assault weapon ban.

In Rhode Island, advocates say their work isn’t over.

“It’s progress,” said Melissa Carden, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence. “But we know that a true assault weapons ban includes an enforceable ban on possession as well.”

Defenders of Rhode Island’s law bristle that their version could be considered weak. They point out that residents looking to purchase an assault weapon from nearby New Hampshire or elsewhere will be blocked. That’s because federal law prohibits people from traveling to a different state to purchase a gun and returning it to a state where that particular of weapon is banned.

“Some of my constituents have already called me and made comments about ‘bad, bad bad, I’m going out and buying three and four of them now,’” said Sen. Louis DiPalma, the Senate sponsor of the statute. “Okay, come July 1st next year, you will not be able to do that anymore.”