2017 -- S 0374

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LC001898

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS

     Introduced By: Senators Archambault, Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Lombardo, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: March 02, 2017

     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 attorney general shall have the authority to enter into agreements or otherwise

formally approve reciprocal recognition with other states that require an agreement to be in place

before that state will recognize a Rhode Island concealed handgun permit as valid.

     (d) The state of Rhode Island shall recognize and honor a concealed handgun or

concealed weapon permit or license issued by any other reciprocal state or county, provided;

     (1) The permit or license holder is a nonresident who is twenty-one (21) years of age or

older;

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     (2) The reciprocal state or county provides the means for instantaneous verification of the

validity of all such permits or licenses issued within that state or county, accessible twenty-four

(24) hours a day;

     (3) The permit or license holder has in their immediate possession the concealed handgun

or concealed weapon permit or license along with a photo identification issued by a state or

government agency and presents for verification the permit or license and identification upon

demand by a law enforcement officer; and

     (4) The permit or license holder is subject to the same laws and restrictions with respect

to carrying a concealed weapon or concealed firearm as a resident of Rhode Island who is so

licensed.

     (e) The state of Rhode Island shall recognize an official government issued law

enforcement identification card issued to an active duty law enforcement officer from any other

state or county. These individuals 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 provide the attorney general with the authority to enter into agreements

with other states to recognize concealed handgun permits issued by Rhode Island as valid in other

states and concealed handgun permits issued by other states as valid in Rhode Island when certain

conditions are met. This act would also provide that Rhode Island would recognize official law

enforcement identification cards permitting carrying concealed handguns issued by any other

state.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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