West Greenwich, Rhode Island Town Council Unanimously Passes Resolution in Opposition to Rhode Island 2025 Gun Control Legislation
The Town of West Greenwich Town Council passed, by a 5-0 unanimous vote, a Resolution declaring their Opposition to the current spate of gun control legislation currently under consideration at the Rhode Island Legislature. Citing, among other issues, Constitutional conflicts, as well as the unfunded mandate that associated enforcement costs represents, the City Council, and the citizenry were in lockstep … certainly a rare occurrence in today’s civil life.
Council Member Chas Calenda, a former Assistant State Attorney General, and a lawyer in private practice, authored the resolution.
West Greenwich joins Lincoln, Glocester, Burrileville & Foster in passing similar resolutions.
RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF WEST GREENWICH
OPPOSITION TO RHODE ISLAND 2025 GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION
WHEREAS, the Town Council of the Town of West Greenwich pursuant to Rhode Island statute and the
Town of West Greenwich Charter, is vested with the authority of administering the affairs of
the Town of West Greenwich, Rhode Island; and
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on December 15, 1791 as
part of the Bill of Rights, protects the individual right of the people to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008),
affirmed an individual’s right to possess firearms in common use, unconnected with service in
a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home – even those
arms not yet in existence at the time the Second Amendment was ratified; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), affirmed that
the right of an individual to “keep and bear arms,” as protected under the Second
Amendment, is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is
applicable to the states; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), opined that
firearms that are part of ordinary military equipment, or with use that could contribute to the
common defense are protected by the Second Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Article I, Section 22 of the Rhode Island Constitution adopted in 1842, provides that “The
right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”; and
WHEREAS, Article I, Section 6 of the Rhode Island Constitution provides that “The right of the people to
be secure in their persons, papers and possessions, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but on complaint in writing, upon
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and describing as nearly as many as may
be, the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.”; and
WHEREAS, as a matter of general principle, and in recognition of over 230 years of lawmaking under the
guidance of the Constitution for the United States of America having properly established
numerous laws regarding criminal use of firearms that are wholly adequate when judiciously
enforced such that additional laws are unneeded, any law which upon passage renders a life-
long, law-abiding citizen a felon through no action of their own, is an unjustified law,
repugnant to the constitutions of the State of Rhode Island and these United States; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Town Council of the Town of West Greenwich to declare its support of
the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and to the provisions of the Rhode
Island Constitution which protect the citizens of the State of Rhode Island’s individual right to
keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the West Greenwich Town Council members each took an oath to support and defend the
United States Constitution, the Rhode Island Constitution, and the laws of the State of Rhode
Island which are not deemed unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, and the
Charter of the Town of West Greenwich; and
WHEREAS, the West Greenwich Town Council members give great weight to and adhere to the belief of
James Madison, Jr., the fourth President of these great United States that: “Oppressors can
tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed
populace”; and
WHEREAS, the West Greenwich Town Council desires to protect the rights of law abiding citizens,
individuals who have committed violent crimes with firearms should be fully prosecuted with
existing laws on the books; and
WHEREAS, bills that have been passed and are being considered by the General Assembly would require
the confiscation and storage of otherwise lawfully owned firearms in common use, and make
the Towns and Cities of Rhode Island, responsible for these costs; and
WHEREAS, R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-47-41. Government firearm registration prohibited specifically says, “No
government agency of this state or its political subdivisions shall keep or cause to be kept
any list or register of privately owned firearms or any list or register of the owners of those
firearms; provided, that the provisions of this section shall not apply to firearms which have
been used in committing any crime of violence, nor to any person who has been convicted of
a crime of violence.”; and
WHEREAS, Rhode Island firearm purchase requirements already include a state and federal background
check, a seven-day waiting period, and a “Blue Card” for the purchase of handguns; and
additionally, a lengthy process for obtaining a concealed carry permit – all evidence of some of
the most restrictive gun purchase/ownership laws in the country; and
WHEREAS, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Gun Violence Solutions report
that “Rhode Island had the lowest overall gun death rate and gun suicide rate in the country
in 2022.” – is further evidence of the effectiveness of laws already in existence in Rhode
Island; and
WHEREAS, the limited gun violence that does exist is not from law abiding citizens who own firearms, but
from criminals who pay no attention to any existing or proposed laws, so it naturally follows
that any bills restricting the rights of firearm owners will have NO impact on the criminal
element responsible for gun violence; and
WHEREAS, the so-called “assault weapons” targeted in proposed legislation is sweepingly broad and
includes many semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, and handguns in common use – none of which
have been part of the so-called “gun problem.”; and
WHEREAS, these bills not only penalize law-abiding citizens from exercising their Constitutional right for
owning a firearm, but they also damage federally licensed firearms dealers, who are Rhode
Island business owners. They would most certainly restrict their sales and livelihood; and
WHEREAS, the Rhode Island General Assembly, in its 2025 legislative session has pending before it bills
regulating and restricting the rights afforded the citizens of the State of Rhode Island through
the Second Amendment to the United States’ Constitution and the Constitution of the State of
Rhode Island, most notably including, but not limited to:
House Bill 5436 and Senate Bill 359, the Rhode Island Assault Weapons Ban Act of 2025,
would prohibit the possession of “assault weapons,” defined very broadly to include a wide
range of semiautomatic firearms making these bills more accurately the Rhode Island
Semiautomatic Firearms Ban of 2025. In order to be exempt, the weapon must, within twelve
(12) months of the bill’s passage, be registered seemingly in violation of R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-
47-41, be rendered inoperable, be surrendered to a registered firearm dealer or police
department or be transferred to a person in another jurisdiction where such firearms are
allowed. It would also require any heirs of a decedent to surrender or transfer the firearm. If
registered, the lawful owner would be required to submit fingerprints and pay a fee for
registering the firearm;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town Council of the Town of West Greenwich on May 8,
2019, declared itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary Town, now reaffirms that declaration, and hereby takes
the following position on state legislation that undoubtably abridges our Second Amendment rights. We find
and declare that these gun restriction bills, if enacted by the Rhode Island General Assembly, infringe upon
the rights of the People of the Town of West Greenwich and the People of the State of Rhode Island to keep
and bear arms. We collectively condemn and are opposed to the infringement of these rights established by
our Founding Fathers.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these bills impose unfunded mandates upon local governments; and the
Town Council of the Town of West Greenwich will not appropriate funds for capital construction of building
space and/or the purchase of storage systems to store weapons seized, pursuant to any requirements set forth
in the legislation if enacted by the General Assembly for the purpose of enforcing any law, that
unconstitutionally infringes upon the rights of the People of the Town of West Greenwich to keep and bear
arms.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to every Rhode Island
Municipality, State Senators, State Representatives, the Governor and the Lt. Governor respectfully
requesting their support.
Passed as a resolution of the West Greenwich Town Council this 2 nd day of April, 2025.
________________________________
Mark D. Boyer, President
West Greenwich Town Council
ATTEST: ___________________________
Kelly Laiho, Town Clerk
