Vote Comes Day Ahead of National Gun Violence Awareness Day, an Annual Event Dedicated to Honoring the Lives of People in the United States Affected by Gun Violence and Elevating Advocates Who are Demanding an End to Gun Violence by Taking Action
PROVIDENCE — Today, Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund and the Rhode Island chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, issued the following statement after the Rhode Island House voted to pass H5436, critical legislation to prohibit the purchase of assault weapons and prevent future mass tragedies in the state. The bill’s Senate counterpart, SB359, now awaits chamber passage.
“The pain of having my daughter taken by someone armed with an assault weapon is something I wish no one else experiences, and our lawmakers have the chance to help make that a reality,” said Diana Garrington, a volunteer with the Rhode Island chapter of Moms Demand Action and a fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network whose daughter Essence was shot and killed by a person with an assault weapon in Providence. “I applaud our leaders in the House for doing their part by passing legislation to keep assault weapons out of our communities. Senate lawmakers, now it’s your time to show up for mothers like me who live with this heartbreak every single day.”
“The House’s vote today makes it clear they care more about protecting our children than appeasing the gun lobby — and we could not be more grateful to Speaker Shekarchi and all the Representatives who voted for this bill to become law today,” said Mia Tretta, a gunshot wound survivor from the shooting at Saugus High School in California and volunteer leader with the Brown University Students Demand Action chapter. “The ball is now in the court of the Senate. Senate President Lawson and her colleagues have the opportunity to protect Rhode Islanders and make sure students like me don’t suffer from preventable gun violence. I beg of you: keep the weapon of choices for mass shooters out of Rhode Island – our lives depend on it.”
Mass shootings where an assault weapon was used has resulted in nearly six times as many people shot, more than twice as many people killed, and 23 times as many people wounded on average compared to those that did not involve the use of one. Research shows a prohibition on assault weapons can prevent mass shooting fatalities and active shooter events. More on the critical nature of assault weapons bans can be found here.
This week, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal seeking to overturn the Maryland assault weapons ban, leaving in place the Fourth Circuit decision that such a ban is constitutional. The Supreme Court also rejected a Second Amendment challenge to Rhode Island’s own high-capacity magazine ban, leaving in place the First Circuit decision that Rhode Island’s high-capacity magazine ban is constitutional. And just this past April, the First Circuit applied the reasoning of that magazine-ban decision to uphold Massachusetts’s assault-weapons ban.
Rhode Island is not yet a national leader on gun safety according to the Everytown Gun Law Rankings, ranking 13th in the country and below that of its neighboring states. Gun violence costs Rhode Island $752.1 million each year, of which $15.8 million is paid by taxpayers. More information about gun violence in Rhode Island is available here.