2016 -- S 2416

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LC004670

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES-WEAPONS

     Introduced By: Senators Pagliarini, Lombardo, Morgan, Kettle, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: February 11, 2016

     Referred To: Senate 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 hereby amended to read as follows:

     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 or revolvers

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.

     (c) The state of Rhode Island shall recognize and honor a valid concealed weapons permit

issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the state of Connecticut, or the state of Utah.

Individuals so permitted shall be exempted from the provisions of §11-47-8, and shall have the

right to carry a concealed firearm everywhere within this state.

      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

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     This act would specifically allow individuals who possess a valid concealed weapon

permit issued by Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Utah to carry a concealed firearm everywhere

within Rhode Island.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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