2023 -- H 5576
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LC001776
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S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
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A N A C T
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS
Introduced By: Representatives Place, Rea, Chippendale, and Nardone
Date Introduced: February 15, 2023
Referred To: House Judiciary
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 11-47-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons" is 1
hereby amended to read as follows: 2
11-47-9. Persons exempt from restrictions. 3
(a) The provisions of § 11-47-8 shall not apply to sheriffs; deputy sheriffs; the 4
superintendent and members of the state police; members of the Rhode Island airport police 5
department; members of the Rhode Island state marshals; Rhode Island state fire marshal; chief 6
deputy state fire marshals; deputy state fire marshals assigned to the bomb squad, and those 7
assigned to the investigation unit; Providence fire department arson investigators, provided that the 8
investigator receiving the permit is a graduate of a police-training academy; correctional officers, 9
chief inspector and inspectors within the office of inspections, within the department of corrections; 10
members of the city or town police force; capitol police investigators of the department of attorney 11
general appointed pursuant to § 42-9-8.1; the witness protection coordinator for the witness 12
protection review board as set forth in chapter 30 of title 12 and subject to the minimum 13
qualifications of § 42-9-8.1; automobile theft investigators of the Rhode Island state police pursuant 14
to § 31-50-1; railroad police while traveling to and from official assignments or while on 15
assignments; conservation officers; or other duly appointed law enforcement officers; nor to 16
members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps of the United States, the National Guard, 17
or organized reserves, when on duty; nor to members of organizations by law authorized to 18
purchase or receive firearms from the United States or this state, provided these members are at, or 19
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going to or from, their places of assembly or target practice; nor to officers or employees of the 1
United States authorized by law to carry a concealed firearm; nor to any civilian guard or criminal 2
investigator carrying sidearms or a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official duties 3
under the authority of the commanding officer of the military establishment in the state of Rhode 4
Island where he or she is employed by the United States; nor to any civilian guard carrying sidearms 5
or a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official duties under the authority of the 6
adjutant general where he or she is employed guarding a national guard facility, provided, that the 7
commanding officer of the military establishment shall have on file with the attorney general of 8
this state a list of the names and addresses of all civilian guards and criminal investigators so 9
authorized; nor to duly authorized military organizations when on duty; nor to members when at, 10
or going to or from, their customary places of assembly; nor to any individual employed in the 11
capacity of warden, associate warden, major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant, correctional officer or 12
investigator at any project owned or operated by a municipal detention facility corporation, 13
including the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility; nor to the regular and/or ordinary transportation 14
of pistols or revolvers as merchandise; nor to any person while transporting a pistol, or revolvers, 15
unloaded from the place of purchase to their residence, or place of business, from their residence 16
to their place of business or from their place of business to their residence, or to a federal firearms 17
licensee for the purpose of sale, to or from a bona fide gunsmith, or firearms repair facility, to any 18
police station or other location designated as a site of a bona fide “gun buy-back” program, but 19
only if said pistol or revolver is unloaded and any ammunition for said pistol or revolver is not 20
readily or directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such vehicle while transporting 21
same and further provided, that in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the 22
passenger compartment, the firearm or the ammunition shall be stored in a locked container. 23
(b) The provisions of § 11-47-8 shall not apply to any person who carries a concealed or 24
non-concealed weapon, or a person who may lawfully possess a firearm and who carries a 25
concealed or non-concealed firearm, on or about their person while in the act of evacuating during 26
a mandatory evacuation order during a state of emergency declared by the governor pursuant to § 27
30-15-9 or by a local authority pursuant to § 30-15-12. As used in this section, the term "in the act 28
of evacuating" means the immediate and urgent movement of a person or persons away from the 29
evacuation zone within forty-eight (48) hours after a mandatory evacuation is ordered. The forty-30
eight (48) hour period may be extended pursuant to the powers granted the governor or local 31
authorities pursuant to chapter 15 of title 30. 32
(b)(c) Persons exempted by the provisions of this section from the provisions of § 11-47-8 33
shall have the right to carry concealed firearms everywhere within this state; provided, that this 34
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shall not be construed as giving the right to carry concealed firearms to a person transporting 1
firearms as merchandise or as household or business goods. 2
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 3
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS
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This act would permit the open and concealed carrying of weapons by certain persons in 1
the act of evacuating the area pursuant to an order of the governor or local authority under chapter 2
15 of title 30. 3
This act would take effect upon passage. 4
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