2015 -- H 5119

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LC000097

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS

     Introduced By: Representative Anastasia P.Williams

     Date Introduced: January 15, 2015

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 11-47-5, 11-47-8, 11-47-9 and 11-47-30 of the General Laws in

Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-47-5. Possession of arms by person convicted of crime of violence or who is a

fugitive from justice. -- (a) No person who has been convicted in this state or elsewhere of a

crime of violence, or who has been convicted of an offense punishable as a misdemeanor offense

under § 12-29-2 or who is a fugitive from justice shall purchase, own, carry, transport, or have in

his or her possession any firearm.

      (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, no person convicted

of an offense punishable as a felony offense under § 12-29-5 shall purchase, own, carry,

transport, or have in his or her possession any firearm, for a period of two (2) years following the

date of that conviction.

      (c)(b) No person who is in community confinement pursuant to the provisions of § 42-

56-20.2 or who is otherwise subject to electronic surveillance or monitoring devices as a

condition of parole shall purchase, carry, transport, or have in his or her possession any firearm.

This subsection shall not apply to any person who has not been convicted of (or pleaded guilty or

nolo contendere to) a crime of violence in a court of competent jurisdiction.

      (d)(c) Every person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction, be

punished by imprisonment for not less than two (2) nor more than ten (10) years; and for

penalties provided in this section he or she shall not be afforded the benefit of suspension or

deferment of sentence nor of probation.

     11-47-8. License or permit required for carrying pistol -- Possession of machine gun.

-- (a) No person shall, without a license or permit issued as provided in §§ 11-47-11, 11-47-12

and 11-47-18, carry a pistol or revolver in any vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her

person whether visible or concealed, except in his or her dwelling house or place of business or

on land possessed by him or her or as provided in §§ 11-47-9 and 11-47-10. The provisions of

these sections shall not apply to any person who is the holder of a valid license or permit issued

by the licensing authority of another state, or territory of the United States, or political

subdivision of the state or territory, allowing him or her to carry a pistol or revolver in any

vehicle or conveyance or on or about his or her person whether visible or concealed, provided the

person is merely transporting the firearm through the state in a vehicle or other conveyance

without any intent on the part of the person to detain him or herself or remain within the state of

Rhode Island. No person shall manufacture, sell, purchase, or possess a machine gun except as

otherwise provided in this chapter. Every person violating the provision of this section shall, upon

conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten (10) years, or by

a fine up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, and except for a first conviction under this

section shall not be afforded the provisions of suspension or deferment of sentence, nor a

probation.

      (b) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any sawed-

off shotgun or sawed-off rifle as defined in § 11-47-2. Any person convicted of violating this

subsection shall be punished by imprisonment for up to ten (10) years, or by a fine of up to five

thousand dollars ($5,000), or both.

      (c) No person shall have in his or her possession or under his or her control any firearm

while the person delivers, possesses with intent to deliver, or manufactures a controlled

substance. Any person convicted of violating this subsection shall be punished by imprisonment

for not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years, and the sentence shall be

consecutive to any sentence the person may receive for the delivery, possession with intent to

deliver, or the manufacture of the controlled substance. It shall not be a defense to a violation of

this subsection that a person has a license or permit to carry or possess a firearm.

     (d) No person shall carry a rifle or shotgun in any vehicle or conveyance or on or about

his or her person whether visible or concealed, except in his or her dwelling house or place of

business or on land possessed by him or her. Every person violating the provisions of this

subsection, shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more

than ten (10) years, or by a fine up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both, except for a first

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conviction under this section, the person shall not be afforded the provisions of suspension or

deferment of sentence, nor probation. This subsection shall not apply to those persons engaged in

lawful hunting activity as provided in chapter 13 of title 20, lawful target shooting within this

state or lawfully engaged in any of the activities authorized by § 11-47-9.

     11-47-9. Persons exempt from restrictions. -- (a) The provisions of § 11-47-8 shall not

apply to sheriffs; deputy sheriffs; the superintendent and members of the state police; members of

the Rhode Island airport police department; members of the Rhode Island state marshals; Rhode

Island state fire marshal; chief deputy state fire marshals; deputy state fire marshals assigned to

the bomb squad, and those assigned to the investigation unit; Providence fire department arson

investigators, provided that the investigator receiving the permit is a graduate of a police-training

academy; correctional officers, within the department of corrections; members of the city or town

police force; capitol police investigators of the department of attorney general appointed pursuant

to § 42-9-8.1; the witness protection coordinator for the witness protection review board as set

forth in chapter 30 of title 12 and subject to the minimum qualifications of § 42-9-8.1; automobile

theft investigators of the Rhode Island state police pursuant to § 31-50-1; railroad police while

traveling to and from official assignments or while on assignments; conservation officers; or

other duly appointed law enforcement officers; nor to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force,

and Marine Corps of the United States, the National Guard, or organized reserves, when on duty;

nor to members of organizations by law authorized to purchase or receive firearms from the

United States or this state, provided these members are at, or going to or from, their places of

assembly or target practice; nor to officers or employees of the United States authorized by law to

carry a concealed firearm; nor to any civilian guard or criminal investigator carrying sidearms or

a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official duties under the authority of the

commanding officer of the military establishment in the state of Rhode Island where he or she is

employed by the United States; nor to any civilian guard carrying sidearms or a concealed firearm

in the performance of his or her official duties under the authority of the adjutant general where

he or she is employed guarding a national guard facility, provided, that the commanding officer

of the military establishment shall have on file with the attorney general of this state a list of the

names and addresses of all civilian guards and criminal investigators so authorized; nor to duly

authorized military organizations when on duty; nor to members when at, or going to or from,

their customary places of assembly; nor to any individual employed in the capacity of warden,

associate warden, major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant, correctional officer or investigator at any

project owned or operated by a municipal detention facility corporation, including the Donald W.

Wyatt Detention Facility; nor to the regular and/or ordinary transportation of pistols a pistol, or

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revolvers revolver, rifle, or a shotgun as merchandise; nor to any person while transporting a

pistol, or revolvers, unloaded from the place of purchase to their residence; or place of business,

from their residence to their place of business or from their place of business to their residence, or

to a federal firearms licensee for the purpose of sale, to or from a bona fide gunsmith, or firearms

repair facility, to any police station or other location designated as a site of a bona fide "gun buy-

back" program, but only if said pistol or revolver is unloaded and any ammunition for said pistol

or revolver is not readily or directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such vehicle

while transporting same and further provided, that in the case of a vehicle without a compartment

separate from the passenger compartment, the firearm or the ammunition shall be stored in a

locked container.

      (b) Persons exempted by the provisions of this section from the provisions of § 11-47-8

shall have the right to carry concealed firearms everywhere within this state; provided, that this

shall not be construed as giving the right to carry concealed firearms to a person transporting

firearms as merchandise or as household or business goods.

     11-47-30. Sale, transfer or delivery of firearms to minors. -- (a) It shall be unlawful

within this state for any person to sell, transfer, give, convey, or cause to be sold, transferred,

given or conveyed any firearm to any person under eighteen (18) years of age, when the person

knows or has reason to know that the recipient is under eighteen (18) years of age, except for the

limited purposes set forth in §§ 11-47-33 and 11-47-34 and with the prior approval or consent of

the parent or legal guardian of the minor.

      (b) Every person violating this section subsection (a) of this section shall be punished,

upon conviction, by imprisonment for not less than ten (10) years and not more than twenty (20)

years. The prohibitions of this section shall not apply to any federally and state licensed retail

dealer who makes reasonable efforts to verify a purchaser's age and shall not apply to the sale of

an air rifle, air pistol, "blank gun" or "BB gun."

     (c) If the firearm unlawfully sold, transferred, given, conveyed, or caused to be sold,

transferred, given or conveyed to any person under eighteen (18) years of age is used in a crime

of violence, the person found in violation of subsection (a) of this section, upon conviction, shall

be punished by imprisonment of not less than fifteen (15) years. The sentence shall be

consecutive to any sentence the person may receive for the underlying offense in subsection (a) of

this section.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - WEAPONS

***

     This act would prohibit persons convicted of certain misdemeanor domestic offenses

from purchasing, owning, carrying, transporting, or having in his or her possession any firearm,

and would prohibit persons from carrying a rifle or shotgun in any vehicle or conveyance, except

upon his or her own property. This act would also provide additional penalties for transferring a

firearm to a minor, if that firearm is used in a crime of violence.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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