March 22 Legislative Hearings: Focus on Gun Safety

This Week’s Hearings: A Busy Time for Gun Safety

On Tuesday, March 22, the House Judiciary Committee will be hearing most of the bills introduced this session related to gun safety.  The LWVRI position on gun safety is based on that of the LWVUS, as follows:

The LWVUS believes that the proliferation of handguns and semiautomatic assault weapons in the US is a major health and safety threat to its citizens.  The League supports strong federal measures to limit the accessibility and regulate theo ownership of these weapons by private citizens.  The Leagues supports regulating firearms for consumer safety.  The League supports licensing procedures for gun ownership by private citizens to include a waiting period for background checks, personal identity verification, gun safety education and annual license renewal.  The license fee should be adequate to bear the cost of education and verification.  The League supports a ban on “Saturday night specials,” enforcement of strict penalties for the improper possession of and crimes committed with handguns and assault weapons, and allocation of resources to better regulate and monitor gun dealers. (Adopted by 1990 LWVUS Convention and amended by 1994 and 1998 Conventions.)

The League will testify in SUPPORT of

House Bill No. 7243  SUPPORT

BY Ajello, Tanzi, Handy, Amore, Almeida

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS {LC3675/1}

(Provides that only peace officers and persons approved by the school authorities for the purposes of educational instruction officers may carry firearms or other weapons on school grounds.)

House Bill No. 7283 SUPPORT

BY Amore, Lombardi, Ajello, Regunberg, Blazejewski

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS {LC3793/1}

(Prohibits any person convicted of a misdemeanor offense under §12-29-2 (a crime involving domestic violence) from purchasing, owning, transporting, carrying, or possessing any firearm.)

House Bill No. 7575 SUPPORT

BY Tanzi, Fogarty, Carson, Ruggiero, Maldonado

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS--THE PROTECTRHODE ISLAND FAMILIES ACT {LC4631/1} (Requires the surrender of firearms to law enforcement agencies after conviction of certain domestic violence offenses.)

House Bill No. 7199  SUPPORT

BY Regunberg, Carson, Ajello, Handy, Almeida

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS {LC3670/1}

(Criminalizes the manufacture, import, possession, purchase, sale or transfer of any ammunition feeding device capable of accepting more than ten (10) rounds.)

House Bill No. 7850  SUPPORT

(Attorney General) by Diaz, Shekarchi, Almeida, Maldonado

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS {LC4003/1}

(Makes it unlawful to carry a rifle or shotgun in a vehicle or on one's person, visible or concealed, except at one's residence, place of business or land.  This subsection shall not apply to those persons engaged in lawful hunting activity as   provided in chapter 13 of title 20, lawful target shooting within this state or lawfully engaged in any of the activities authorized by §11-47-9.)

House Bill no. 7853  SUPPORT 

Attorney General BY Johnston, Canario

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS {LC4007/1}

(Provides that no person, entity, or dealer shall sell, loan, transfer or acquire a firearm from any person, entity or dealer with the intent to avoid the application/disclosure process required by

§§11-47-35 or 11-47-35.2.)

Based on our position above, the League will oppose:

House Bill No. 7093  OPPOSE

BY Fellela, Carnevale, Costa, Ucci

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS {LC3503/1}

(Provides for automatic renewal of a gun permit or license.)

House Bill No. 7541  OPPOSE

BY Ucci, Chippendale, Nardolillo, Price, Corvese

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS {LC4665/1}

(Allows individuals with concealed carry permits issued by Massachusetts, Connecticut and any other state with a live fire requirement to carry concealed firearms within this state.)

House Bill No. 7680  OPPOSE

BY Nardolillo, Chippendale, Price, Roberts

ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - SECOND

AMENDMENT PRESERVATION ACT {LC4764/1} (Prohibits the use of state funds, personnel or property in the enforcement of federal firearms laws or regulations.)

Take ACTION!

The most effective way you can support or oppose these bills is to CALL the office of your legislator and/or the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Cale Keable.

Here are the members of the Judiciary Committee

Representative Edith H. Ajello:   rep-ajello@rilegislature.gov

Representative Joseph S. Almeida:   rep-almeida@rilegislature.gov

Representative Christopher R. Blazejewski:   rep-blazejewski@rilegislature.gov

Representative Dennis M. Canario:   rep-canario@rilegislature.gov

Representative Doreen Marie Costa, Vice Chairperson:   rep-costa@rilegislature.gov

 Representative David A. Coughlin, Jr.:   rep-coughlin@rilegislature.gov

 Representative Robert E. Craven, Sr.:   rep-craven@rilegislature.gov

 Representative John G. Edwards:   rep-edwards@rilegislature.gov

 Representative Blake A. Filippi:   rep-filippi@rilegislature.gov

 Representative Cale P. Keable, Chairperson:   rep-keable@rilegislature.gov

 Representative Carol Hagan McEntee:   rep-mcentee@rilegislature.gov

 Representative Jeremiah T. O'Grady:   rep-ogrady@rilegislature.gov

Lobby Day March 16

Join The League of Women Voters RI and Common Cause RI  at the State House for Lobby Day 2016

 

We will meet on the 2nd Floor of the State House at 3pm. Everyone will be provided with a  briefing with talking points and materials to prepare us to meet with our  legislators. Please contact Vimala, at vimala@commoncauseri.org to sign up or for more information.

 

Legislative Update March 7

LWVRI Weekly Legislative Alert

No League Testimony Scheduled; Report on Past Week’s

Hearings—Voting and Elections, Open Meetings

Coming Up: Gun Safety Bills

As of Friday, March 4, there were no bills on which the League will testify scheduled for hearings on March 8 and 9, and the Committee calendars had not been posted for March 10. When the calendar is posted, if there are items of interest to the League for which we will need your support, we will post more information and send a supplemental Call to Action. Meanwhile, here’s the report for the past week.

On Tuesday, March 1, LWVRI President Jane Koster,  the League’s chief lobbyist, presented testimony in support of five bills. The first four related to voting and elections.

•  H 7416, which would prohibit state vendors from making political contributions to candidates that if elected, would have the authority to award state contracts to them.
•  H 7146, which would prevent a person from being a candidate for public office who owes fines, fees, or penalties of ($2,000) or more for campaign finance violations, unless that person is currently compliant with a state board-approved repayment agreement.   
•  S 2513 which would establish a system for the electronic registration of voters. 
•  S 2358, which would create a procedure for in-person early voting for all general, primary and special elections.

All were held for further study except for S 2513, the electronic legislation of voters, which was recommended for passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The companion bill in the house, H 7024, was already passed.

The fifth bill, H 7601, concerned open meetings. This bill would exclude  weekends and state holidays from the calculation of the 48-hour public notice requirement for a meeting of a public body. It was also held for further study.

This past week, March 1-3, two new bills of interest the League related to gun safety to were introduced in the house and referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  Both were submitted at the request of the Attorney General.  They are:

• H 7850, which would make it unlawful to carry a rifle or shotgun in a vehicle or on one's person, visible or concealed, except at one's residence, place of business or land. This bill was sponsored by Representatives Diaz, Shekarchi, Almeida, and Maldonado
• H 7583, which would make it illegal for any person, entity, or dealer to sell, loan, transfer or acquire a firearm from any person, entity or dealer with the intent to avoid the application/disclosure process . This bill was sponsored by Johnston and Canario.

These bills have not yet been scheduled for a hearing.