Leader Chippendale statement on passage of Assault Weapons Ban in House Judiciary

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State House, Providence, RI – Rhode Island House 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.
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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.

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​The 2025 Rhode Island House Minority (Republican) Caucus is comprised of the following elected members: Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale, District 40 (Foster/Glocester/Coventry); Minority Whip David J. Place, District 47 (Burrillville/Glocester); Representative George Nardone, District 28 (Coventry); Representative Brian Newberry, District 48 (North Smithfield/Burrillville); Representative Robert Quattrocchi, District 41 (Scituate/Cranston); Representative Sherry Roberts, District 29 (Coventry/West Greenwich); Representative Richard Fascia, District 42 (Johnston/Cranston); Representative Marie Hopkins, District 21 (Warwick); Representative Chris Paplauskas, District 15 (Cranston); Representative Paul Santucci, District 53 (Smithfield/Glocester).

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