After years of stalling at the committee level, legislation banning the sale and manufacturing of assault-style weapons in Rhode Island starting in July 2026 is headed to the House floor for the first time in legislative history.

The House Committee on Judiciary voted 12 to 6 Tuesday to advance the amended bill by Rep. Jason Knight, a Barrington Democrat, for consideration by the full chamber on Thursday.

The historic vote drew rare attendance from Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and House Majority Leader Christopher Blazejewski, who used their ex-officio role on all House Committees to participate in the vote. All of the state’s general officers have already expressed support for the bill. 

“This is a very historic and important bill,” Shekarchi told reporters after the meeting. “It’s a bill that accomplishes what we wanted to do: To take these weapons off the street.”

Knight’s bill would prohibit the sale and manufacturing of assault-style shotguns, handguns and rifles beginning July 1, 2026. Violators of the proposed ban would face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000 and seizure of their assault-style weapons.

The bill applies to any semiautomatic firearm that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has at least one attachment such as a stock, pistol grip or barrel shroud.

Certain .22-caliber rimfire rifles and Olympic-style target pistols would remain exempt from the proposed ban.

How the committee 

voted on the 

proposed ban

“Yes” votes came from Chairman Robert Craven, a North Kingstown Democrat; Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee, a South Kingstown Democrat; Rep. Jason Knight, a Barrington Democrat; Rep. Edith Ajello, a Providence Democrat; Rep. José Batista, a Providence Democrat; Rep. Justine Caldwell, an East Greenwich Democrat; Rep. Julie Casimiro, a North Kingstown Democrat; Rep. Cherie Cruz, a Pawtucket Democrat; Rep. Matthew Dawson, an East Providence Democrat; Rep. Leonela Felix, a Pawtucket Democrat; House Majority Leader Christopher Blazejewski, a Providence Democrat; and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat.

“No” votes came from Rep. David Bennett, a Warwick Democrat; Rep. Arthur Corvese, a North Providence Democrat; Rep. Marie Hopkins, a Warwick Republican; Rep. Thomas Noret, a Coventry Democrat; Rep. David Place; a Burrillville Republican; and House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale, a Foster Republican.

Knight said the latest definition was based on feedback the committee received during the bill’s initial hearing on March 29. But lawmakers – both Republican and Democratic – still voiced numerous concerns with the amended legislation Tuesday, while gun rights advocates in yellow T-shirts listened silently in the audience.

Bennett, a Warwick Democrat, asked if there were any carve-outs for orthopedic pistol grips. No, Knight responded.

“That’s too bad,” Bennett said.

But Knight said gun owners can still purchase firearms with any of the outlawed features if they are purchased ahead of the proposed ban, along with any firearm passed down through a family.

Firearm owners can voluntarily register their weapons with state and local police in order to receive a certificate of possession. Knight’s original bill had mandated that grandfathered weapons be registered, which Second Amendment advocates called unconstitutional.

The voluntary certification did not appease House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale, a Foster Republican. He argued that certification would be necessary to prove ownership in the event of a police arrest.

“That sounds like a registry with a different name,” Chippendale said.

‘A political Trojan horse’

Rep. Thomas Noret, a Coventry Democrat, said he was concerned that the bill could criminalize people who post photos of themselves with guns they don’t own on social media.

“That mere second that they possess it – it could potentially ruin their lives,” he said.

Knight responded that law enforcement already uses social media posts as evidence and that police always have the discretion to not file charges. 

Rep. David Place, a Burrillville Republican, argued that passing the bill would not reduce gun violence and suggested it would disproportionately penalize people of color.

“No one [who] looks like me is going to be sent to jail for this bill unless I fire on somebody who comes to my door,” he said. “We move this bill out of fear at the expense of individual liberty.”

Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Joe Powers called Knight’s legislation “a political Trojan horse.”

“It’s designed to look like public safety, but it’s nothing more than government overreach wrapped in fear-mongering,” Powers said in a statement. “They’re hoping you won’t notice your rights being stripped away, one inch at a time.” 

Gun safety

 advocates 

celebrated the 

committee’s vote.

“Our advocates and partners have worked tirelessly for more than a decade in the name of public safety and we are thrilled to have made it this far in the legislative process,” Melissa Carden, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, said in a statement.

Tony Morettini, legislative chapter lead for Moms Demand Action, said he’s hopeful the bill will clear the full House.

“A chamber passing it sends a big message,” he said.

That message, he said, will be directed across the rotunda to the Senate, where the proposal remains uncertain. 

Companion legislation filed in the Senate by Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, has 23 additional sponsors, including Senate President Valarie Lawson. 

DiPalma’s bill was heard by the Senate Committee on Judiciary on May 14 where it was held for further study. Three Democrats who serve on the committee voiced opposition to the proposal during the initial hearing on DiPalma’s bill.

Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone, a Providence Democrat and federal firearms dealer, has also voiced opposition to banning assault-style weapons as initially drafted.

Lawson did not immediately respond to request for comment on where the proposed ban lies on her list of priorities.