Rhode Island governor calls for stronger gun control laws

February 14, 2019 5:44 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Gov. Gina Raimondo unveiled three bills at the State House late Thursday afternoon, that she believes will help combat gun violence.

Raimondo urged lawmakers to support the legislation, on the one-year anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Raimondo is proposing:
1. A statewide ban on military-style assault weapons
2. A separate bill to ban high-capacity magazines
3. A ban on guns in schools, except for those carried by police officers

The Governor was joined by law enforcement and gun control supporters from groups like Moms Demand Action, as well as local students. She touted accomplishments last year like the Red Flag law, but says more needs to be done to keep Rhode Island kids and the community safe.

The assault weapons ban fell short in the General Assembly last year, but the Governor says she is hopeful it will pass this time around.

The ban on guns in schools is already in effect as an executive order, but the bill unveiled Thursday, if passed, would codify that order into a permanent state law.

Thursday’s new proposed legislation comes on the heels of all sorts of changes to gun laws that have passed or been proposed in Rhode Island in the year since the Parkland shooting.

Governor Raimondo set aside more than $10 million for schools to use for school safety upgrades, and the General Assembly passed the Red Flag Law to get guns out of the hands of high-risk individuals.

However, advocates on both sides seem to still have issues on figuring out what is the best option for students.

Linda Finn with the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence said that restrictions on guns and having gun-free school zones will prevent a similar massacre like the one that happened in Parkland.

“[Students] are tired of these things happening and they’re tired of lockdown drills and they’re scared,” Finn said. “Mental health doesn’t play as big of an issue as people say.”

But Frank Saccoccio with the Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition believes that lawmakers should really be taking a look at school safety and not introducing laws to take away guns. He believes it won’t work.

Saccoccio said there are laws being introduced in the next couple of weeks to address school safety.

“We need to make sure anything we put in place has to have the appropriate safeguards and it’s going to work and not trample on law-abiding citizens,” he said. “A big sign out front does nothing for security. Zero.”

Alongside the gun debate when it comes to mass shootings is the issue of mental health resources, especially for students.

Stacy Perin is the Director of The Providence Center School who said that the best way to address the mental health aspect is having enough resources to help troubled teens.

“We can always do better. We can always provide more resources to students to get mental health needs addressed,” Perin said. “The safest place they used to think they had can now become very unsafe.”