Rhode Island Republicans / GOP House Minority Leader Chippendale Express Disgust/Revulsion at Passage of “Assault” Weapons Ban in Rhode Island Legislature
Statements are directly from the respective organizations.
RI GOP Chairman Joe Powers Condemns Passage of Gun Ban in House Judiciary Committee: “This is a Full-Frontal Assault on Your Rights”
The Rhode Island Republican Party, under the leadership of Chairman Joe Powers, is condemning the recent gun ban passed by the House Judiciary Committee as a blatant attack on the Constitution and an alarming escalation in the erosion of individual liberties.
“This isn’t about guns—it’s about rights. Your rights,” said Powers. “As a citizen of Rhode Island and the United States of America, you are guaranteed certain freedoms that no governor, no legislator, and certainly no radical political movement has the authority to revoke.”
Powers emphasized that the gun ban is likely unconstitutional, and potentially illegal, noting that “this legislation is a political Trojan horse. It’s designed to look like public safety, but it’s nothing more than government overreach wrapped in fear-mongering. They’re hoping you won’t notice your rights being stripped away, one inch at a time.”
Citing the wisdom of President Ronald Reagan, Powers reminded Rhode Islanders that, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” He added, “We’re watching a slow-motion hijacking of our freedoms—driven by a fringe ideology that wants power, not safety.”
“History has shown us what happens when governments disarm their citizens. Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union—every one of them started the same way: a restriction here, a new law there, always in the name of the ‘public good.’ Before long, rights disappeared. Dissent disappeared. People disappeared.”
Powers issued a call to action to every Rhode Islander. “We need to wake up. If you’re not alarmed yet, you’re not paying attention. Today it’s your firearms. Tomorrow it’ll be your speech, your faith, and your property. That’s how tyranny creeps in—not with a bang, but with applause from the State House.”
Powers concludes, “Enough is enough. Rhode Islanders need to take Rhode Island back before the far-left strips away what’s left of our liberties. This isn’t just a fight for the Second Amendment—it’s a fight for the soul of our state. Let’s make sure we’re the generation that stood up, not the one that gave up.”
Leader Chippendale statement on passage of Assault Weapons Banin House Judiciary
Minority Leader Michael Chippendale provides the following statement on the passage of the Assault Weapons Ban Legislation (H5436) today in House Judiciary:
The proposed Assault Weapons Ban is not only an overreach of government authority but a direct challenge to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. While the Supreme Court declined to grant certiorari in the Sopnes and Ocean State Tactical cases this week, it is critical to understand that this does not equate to an endorsement of the lower court decisions. In fact, Justice Kavanaugh’s comments accompanying the denial explicitly left the door open for the Court to address these Second Amendment issues in the 2025 or 2026 term.
Should this bill become law, it will face immediate legal challenges – lawsuits that Rhode Island taxpayers will be forced to fund at a time when our state is already struggling to balance its budget. The cost of defending this constitutionally questionable law could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, with no guarantee of success.
Worse yet, this legislation does nothing to address the real source of gun violence – criminal misuse of firearms. Instead, it targets law-abiding citizens, turning responsible gun owners into felons overnight for simply owning a firearm that was legally purchased and safely stored. This bill punishes the people who follow the law, while doing nothing to deter those who commit crimes with illegal firearms.
The bill also places an unfunded mandate on local police departments, requiring them to implement a so-called “voluntary certification” program. But let’s be honest – there is nothing voluntary about it. If a citizen is found in possession of a “grandfathered” firearm without this certificate, they will be subject to criminal penalties. That’s not voluntary – that’s coerced compliance.
Additionally, Rhode Island’s recent spree of gun control laws has already damaged our eligibility for Pittman-Robertson Act federal matching funds, which are crucial to the Department of Environmental Management’s ability to conserve and maintain public lands. This new ban will further reduce those funds and simultaneously harm Rhode Island-based manufacturing businesses that supply parts and accessories for these now-restricted firearms. The result will be decreased revenue for the general fund, job losses in the private sector, and weakened support for public lands and conservation efforts.
Unfortunately, this bill has become a political stepping-stone for certain Democratic politicians more interested in resume building than public safety. Despite the narrative being pushed by Everytown and other national advocacy groups – using biased, unscientific polling data – the reality on the ground is clear: Rhode Islanders overwhelmingly oppose this legislation.
Let’s also be clear about who Everytown really is. This is the same organization that deliberately misled the public and manipulated our legislative process by setting up a deceptive email system that allowed supporters of gun rights to unintentionally send emails to legislators in favor of this bill. They misrepresented the will of Rhode Islanders to fabricate political cover for this unconstitutional overreach. Any organization willing to resort to such dishonest tactics has no credibility, no integrity, and no place in our policymaking process. They are not to be trusted – not with data, not with messaging, and certainly not with influencing the rights of our citizens.
That opposition was plain to see at the State House, where rallies against the bill outnumbered gun control advocates by a margin of at least 12 to 1. It was evident during public hearings, where the majority of testimony came from citizens opposing the bill. And it has been unmistakable in the inboxes of legislators, where emails opposing the bill have far outpaced those in support.
This legislation is misguided, legally vulnerable, economically harmful, and publicly unpopular. I urge my colleagues to reject this ill-conceived proposal before it further divides our state, drains our limited resources, and tramples on the rights of responsible Rhode Islanders.
