A detailed analysis of data provided with the attorney generals 2022 gun crimes report was completed. I encourage all to do the same. I believe most will find it very enlightening.

I would like to start with a couple statements from the report. “The state saw 66 cases involving ghost guns last year” According to the source data files this statement is false. 66 is the number of cases disposed of in the year 2022. Not the number of crimes charged in 2022.

Next: Neronha notes that prosecutors charged and disposed of 799 cases involving illegal firearms last year.” ~ There are more than 380 cases from last year still pending” This leads the reader to believe 380 in addition to 799 gun crimes were charged in 2022. False. 389 of the 799 are pending cases. In fact, the data shows 47% of all the cases in the report are unresolved. That leaves 407 resolved cases. Of that 407, 170 were released with no jail sentence. 51.59% of all resolved cases received no jail time. However, the attorney general’s report fails to point out this telling statistic.

How well does the report reflect gun crimes committed in 2022? A random sample of 140 cases from the 389 unresolved revealed that only 53 cases, or 38% were from 2022. The dates ranged from 2014-2022.

Of the 170 resolved cases that received No Jail Time, the dates of incidence were 2017-2022. Only 11% of these were from 2022. This report is patently false as a reflection of firearm crimes for the year 2022.

The 170 non jail cases did yield some very telling and disturbing statistics. 13 of these were removed from the data set due to no firearm charges. Of the remaining 157 cases there were 252 firearms charges of which, 117 were dismissed. 46% of the firearms charges for those that received no jail time were dismissed. These cases were then broken down by charge category. Of those charged with firearm crimes and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: 72% of Domestic Violence cases with firearms charges had firearm charges dismissed. In fact, 63% of all firearm charges in this category were dismissed.

Of those cases with firearm charges and Substance Mfg/Distribution: 84% of these cases had firearm charges dismissed. In this category, 74% of all firearm charges were dismissed. I again encourage everyone to do their own analysis of the source data.

In conclusion, the attorney generals 2022 gun crimes report is in no way a reflection of firearms crimes committed or prosecuted in Rhode Island for the year 2022. The entire report is littered with inaccuracies and blatantly false conclusions. The report is however a damning condemnation of Rhode Islands prosecutorial abilities and judicial system. If we took the criminals off the streets, we would not have a firearms problem. This report completely supports this conclusion.

Dan K. Kesler, of Smithfield

Education Committee Chair

Federated Rhode Island Sportsman’s Club