Leyes sobre armas en Rhode Island

Las leyes sobre armas de fuego en Rhode Island regulan la venta, posesión y uso de armas de fuego y municiones en el estado estadounidense de Rhode Island .

El artículo I, sección 22 de la Constitución de Rhode Island establece:

"El derecho del pueblo a poseer y portar armas no será infringido."

Rhode Island is a hybrid shall/may issue permitting state. The licensing authorities of each town or city (police chief or town council if the locality has no police force) is given the authority to grant carry licenses on a shall-issue basis^[4] but until recently, many police chiefs and town officials had refused to issue. Often an applicant will be referred to the Attorney General’s office which is a "may issue" licensing authority. In practice, carry permits have been very hard to obtain from the Attorney General's Office under their strict interpretation of "proper showing of need", which has only become stricter under the current Neronha administration who will only issue to those who can prove a specific threat to the applicant's life, have a work related purpose (security guard) or are a former police officer.^[5]

However, the "shall" nature of the applicable statute is confusing, stating that the applicant should have "good reason to fear an injury to his or her person or property or has any other proper reason for carrying a pistol or revolver". Some local police chiefs disregard the "other proper reason" clause and require a letter of need. Most local police chiefs also use the Attorney General’s application (which does require need) and thus the chiefs simply follow suit. These towns have been known to require additional requirements that are not included in state law such as attending a firearm safety course, acquiring notarized reference letters, and re-qualifying with the caliber you wish to carry every time you renew. State law does, however, require an applicant for either permit to pass a skill test using the Army-L target at 25 yards, to be certified by a police official, National Rifle Association or United States Revolver Association Certified Instructor.^[6][7] In most cases, the Attorney General will not issue a permit unless the demonstrated need is extremely convincing (work purposes, threat to one's life, etc.). Upon denial, applicants are offered the opportunity to appeal, requiring an interview with Bureau of Criminal Investigation staff. This often results in the issuance of a restricted permit, often for target range use. However, state law does not grant the AG the authority to issue restricted permits and state law explicitly states that carrying a firearm to a target range does not require a permit.

Rhode Island tiene una ley de castillo moderadamente fuerte , ^{[ 9 ]} limitada al interior de una vivienda, sin obligación de retirarse.

Según la ley estatal de alerta roja , la policía puede solicitar al Tribunal Superior que emita una orden de protección por riesgo extremo si recibe información fidedigna sobre un riesgo significativo e inminente. Un juez puede emitir una orden temporal de confiscación de armas, pero se requiere una audiencia dentro de los 14 días para determinar si se justifica una prohibición de un año para comprar o poseer armas de fuego. ^{[ 10 ] [ 11 ]}

Después de comprar un arma de fuego, el período de espera antes de que el comprador pueda tomar posesión es de 7 días, a menos que el comprador sea un agente del orden público en servicio activo o posea un permiso de porte oculto emitido localmente. ^{[ 12 ]}