To the Editor:

I am a Warwick resident, and I am also a mom of three kids, two of whom are in school, and I am scared every day when I send them. I am scared because far too often we have seen what happens when guns get into the wrong hands: people die. It’s fast, it’s violent and it’s traumatic.

It’s not only in schools that mass shootings happen. The reality is that there are mass

shootings everywhere. Across the country, there have been 102 mass shootings since the

beginning of 2025. Since 2020, there have been over 500 mass shootings in our country every year.

Rhode Island is a place where we all know each other and our neighbors. It would be a tragedy to see any community across the state go through an instance of mass gun violence if we knew that it could be prevented. And we can work to prevent mass gun violence by passing two measures moving through the state legislature right now.

Our state lawmakers have the power to keep Rhode Island safe and prevent a mass tragedy by supporting H 5436 and S 359. This would keep weapons of war out of civilian hands and keep our community safe in the process.

According to a 2023 poll, 89.6% of Democrats in Warwick and 75% of independent / unaffiliated voters in Warwick are in favor of a statewide measure to keep assault weapons out of our communities. If our lawmakers want to represent Warwick voters, they must pass H 5436 and S 359 to do that.

Emily M. Howe

Warwick-