Moms Demand Action, Everytown Applaud Governor Raimondo For Prioritizing Gun Safety

The Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement after Governor Raimondo announced her support for a slate of common-sense gun safety laws in a press conference today, like legislation prohibiting ghost guns and high-capacity magazines:

“The ghost guns and high-capacity magazines that end up on our streets put us all at risk,” said Jennifer Boylan, a volunteer with the Rhode Island Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We’re thankful that Governor Raimondo is backing legislation that would keep our families safe. Now it’s time for our lawmakers to move gun safety legislation to her desk.”

Ghost guns are do-it-yourself firearms, often built using unfinished receivers and parts and kits that – as seen in a New York Times investigation – can be acquired without a background check. These unfinished receivers, as well as rapidly-advancing 3D-printing technology, make it easy for people who are legally prohibited from purchasing firearms to evade background check laws and build their own deadly weapons. Because these DIY firearms aren’t marked with serial numbers, they cannot be traced by law enforcement if they’re used to commit crimes. 3D-printing technology can also produce all-plastic firearms that are invisible to metal detectors. The Rhode Island Senate has passed S2004, which would prohibit ghost guns; similar legislation has passed the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee and awaits a full floor vote.

High-capacity magazines, ammunition feeding devices that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds, allow a shooter to fire more rounds without pausing to reload. The more rounds a shooter can fire consecutively, the more gunshot wounds they can inflict during an attack. A recent analysis of 10 years of mass shootings in the US shows that at least 40 mass shootings involved high-capacity magazines, which resulted in 399 people killed and 699 people wounded. Of those 40 mass shootings that involved high-capacity magazines, nearly three-fourths occurred in public places. As a whole, the mass shootings we know involved the use of high-capacity magazines resulted in nearly five times as many people shot on average as those that did not.