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Glocester council adopts resolution opposing proposed 2025 state gun bills
Summary
After public comment and council discussion, the Glocester Town Council voted to adopt a resolution opposing House Bill 5436 and Senate Bill 359, saying the measures would create registries and impose storage costs on municipalities; the council directed the clerk to forward the resolution to state officials and other municipalities.
The Glocester Town Council on March 20, 2025 adopted a resolution opposing proposed Rhode Island legislation identified in the resolution as House Bill 5436 and Senate Bill 359, which the council said would broadly prohibit certain semiautomatic firearms and require registration, fingerprinting and other compliance steps.
Council members said the locally adopted resolution reaffirms earlier “Second Amendment sanctuary” declarations and objects to what the resolution describes as unfunded mandates that would require towns to store and secure surrendered firearms. The council voted to send copies of the resolution to every Rhode Island municipality, the governor, lieutenant governor, and the town’s state legislators.
Supporters of the resolution argued the bills would require towns to create or maintain registries and to store firearms surrendered under the law, imposing recurring costs on taxpayers and additional work for local police. During the meeting, resident Corey Polo summarized what he said were likely town responsibilities if the bills pass: “Unfunded mandate basically there’s over 4,000 firearms that are currently on this list. They’re asking us to provide a fingerprint registry...the taxpayers could be solely responsible if everyone’s gonna start surrendering their firearms.”
Another resident, Cassidy Greathouse, told the council she believes the bills would force municipal police departments to run a registry and to handle fingerprinting and fee collection for owners seeking a “grandfather” exemption. “It’s gonna add a lot of extra work to our law enforcement,” she said, adding that she believes processing registrations and fees will strain already busy police departments.
Council discussion ranged from procedural questions about whether the subject is properly a town issue to statements of constitutional concern. Councilor (and council president) William A. Worthy Jr. and other members said they viewed the bills as an overreach by the state and said the council should register opposition. The adopted resolution states the council finds the bills would infringe on individual rights protected by the U.S. and Rhode Island constitutions and cites federal court decisions.
