WPRO Newsroom
Governor Lincoln Chafee, House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin gathered at the State House Tuesday afternoon to announce a 9-bill gun control package.
Under their proposal, assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would be banned in Rhode Island. Weapons and magazines acquired before July 1, 2013 would be exempt from the ban.
“I personally agree with these pieces of legislation, agree there should be a ban on these assault weapons,” said House Speaker Gordon Fox Tuesday. “But I’m open, as Speaker of the House, to sound, logical debate on these issues. But the first step has to be introducing these bills, so today is the first step: we’re introducing the legislation, and let the debate begin.”
The legislative package prompted by the Sandy Hook School shooting also includes proposals to strengthen penalties for some gun crimes. It also changes the way concealed weapons permits are awarded.
“Can we stop it all? No, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” said State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven O’Donnell about gun violence.
Another proposal before lawmakers would require gun owners to register with local police and pay a $100-per-gun fee.
“We need to do something, we want to make people safe, we want to keep people safe and we’re committing to you to do something,” said Fox.
With reports from the Associated Press
