Bipartisan rebuke of Chippendale’s ‘dummy’ tweet to Emma Gonzalez
Mike Chippendale, a Foster legislator, has managed to raise an issue that Governor Gina Raimondo and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, the two leading candidates for governor, can agree on. The issue being that he was wrong to call gun safety activist and Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez a “dummy” in a tweet yesterday that he eventually […]
Giarrusso, Caldwell hold impromptu debate over gun legislation via email
The first debate of the campaign to represent East Greenwich in the state House of Representatives happened via email. It was between Republican Anthony Giarrusso, the current occupant of the District 30 seat, and Democratic challenger Justine Caldwell. It largely concerned gun legislation at the State House, but also touched on the so-called War on […]
Packed State House greets assault weapons ban bill
Nearly 500 people packed the Rhode Island State House rotunda Tuesday for a rally celebrating the introduction of a bill banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. They filled the stairs and the second-floor hallways, dangled banners over railings, and cheered the legislators and high school students who urged the general assembly to take action. […]
Raimondo signs ‘red flag’ gun safety executive order
Flanked by red-t-shirted members of Moms Demand Action, Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order at Warwick City Hall this afternoon aimed at assisting law enforcement in removing guns from those determined to pose danger to themselves or others. The three components of the order provide for coordination among state and local police investigating reports […]
Politicians, activists and survivors cheer as domestic violence gun bill becomes law
It was standing room only in the State Room at the State House this afternoon as activists, survivors, and elected officials gathered to witness Gov. Gina Raimondo sign the Protect RI Families Act, which restricts access to firearms for domestic abusers. Gov. Raimondo, in introductory remarks, noted that elected officials always tend to offer prayers […]
Out of nowhere, Rep Corvese complains about LGBTQ rights to constituents on House floor
“First they want equal housing, then education, then jobs, now they can marry!” complained Representative Arthur Corvese to constituents asking about legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
Providence cop pulls gun on man outside Burnside Park
Providence police try to document every incident when an officer pulls their gun on a suspect, but Clements said some officers don’t. “It’s an area that we constantly struggle with making sure that we document,” he said, noting that it happened at least 500 times in 2015.
Cicilline, Langevin hold gun safety ‘sit-in’ Wed in PVD
This follow-up event is being billed, by Cicilline spokesman Rich Luchette, as an opportunity to “discuss ways for Rhode Islanders to continue to push Republicans in Congress on ‘no fly, no buy’ and universal background checks,” he said.
Cicilline, Langevin join ‘sit-in’ on House floor to force vote on guns
Rhode Island’s congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin joined John Lewis and other Democrats in a sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives to force Republicans to hold a vote on preventing gun sales to suspected terrorists and expanded background checks for potential gun owners. “We are resolved and committed to speaking out […]
These things wouldn’t happen if everyone was armed, they say
From here: Soon after Mr. Mateen first opened fire, he was confronted by an armed security guard who was an off-duty police officer, said John Mina, the Orlando police chief, at a news conference Monday morning. They exchanged gunfire. The security guard was then joined by an unknown number of police officers, the first to […]
Interfaith vigil against gun violence remains optimistic despite ongoing tragedy
Despite the steady, deadly drumbeat of mass shootings and the hysteria being generated by the Republican presidential front runner over refugees and Muslims, forces are beginning to coalesce around a series of reforms to our gun laws on both the sate and national level.
The thin lead line: Guns and the Second Amendment with law professor Carl T. Bogus
“I believe the Second Amendment was written to ensure states had armed militia to protect themselves,” said Carl T. Bogus, a professor at Roger Williams University School of Law and a prolific writer of scholarly material on Second Amendment history. “The history and wording of the amendment, by James Madison, was to ensure they would remain […]
The great gun giveaway: Or, how easy is it to get a gun online
The firearms industry and the consumers who rally against the notion of gun-safety measures do so using a public face of constitutional nobility. The rhetoric is one of rights and revolution as well as self defense for gun owners and their families. Yet, recently I was inadvertently given a glimpse into the world of the […]
The General Assembly’s inaction on guns
Rhode Island is one of eight states that “continues to fail at submitting records of dangerously mentally ill people who are prohibited from owning guns to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
When mental illness meets a racist and gun-obsessed America
All nurses see mental illness up close and personal. Even those trained to treat diabetes rather than delusions. Mental illness is neither uncommon nor separate from physical illness. People with conditions like schizophrenia are not necessarily acting much different from the rest of us, especially if they are getting effective treatment. Whether we know it […]
ACLU files suit over unlawful 6-year seizure of weapons
Due process is a fundamental tenet underlying our civil liberties, and one can reject the hackneyed mantra that “guns don’t kill people” and still appreciate that gun owners have rights too. The ACLU does. That’s why last week the ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of a North Smithfield resident, who is seeking […]
Poll: 80 percent of RI wants to deny guns to domestic abusers
According to a new poll, “80 percent of Rhode Islanders support a proposal to change state law so that a person convicted of domestic violence or a person subject to a domestic violence protective order cannot buy or possess a gun.”
A vigil for the 2nd anniversary of Sandy Hook in Providence
“Along the way I learned from my sister that the principal of Sandy Hook, a colleague and friend that I knew well, had died along with many children. This was hard for me to hear and not cry, but I could not fall apart in front of my students…”
Sandy Hook parents speak out against gun violence
“If a horrific mass shooting can occur in my town,” says Newtown’s Po Murray, “it can happen anywhere.”
Guns: Our uniquely American inheritance
The capacity for violence that was the midwife of our nation is turning upon itself. What are we to do about our guns? I have a gun problem. And so do you. I have a love of guns, but you probably don’t. I don’t own a single gun, but you might. When my father died, […]
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