PROVIDENCE – The battle began anew Thursday for an assault-weapons ban and safe-storage requirements for firearms, with organized labor taking a lead role in the 2024 election-year drive.
The assault-weapons ban may still be a tough sell.
But this year 28 out of the 38 state senators have co-sponsored the companion bill to require the locked storage of guns that was born of avoidable Rhode Island tragedies, including the 2022 shooting death of a Johnston teenager at the hands of a friend showing off his uncle’s unlocked guns.
“Too many American tragedies – suicides, unintentional shootings involving children, mass shootings – start with someone getting their hands on someone else’s gun without permission. My bill would give gun owners a stronger incentive to take common-sense precautions that make gun ownership safer,” said Rep. Justine Caldwell, the lead sponsor of the House version of the safe-storage bill in a statement about it.
“We know that 70-80% of school shootings, unintended shootings and suicides by children are from unsecured firearms at home or a known family member or friend,” echoed the lead Senate sponsor, Pam Lauria.