Charlestown Council opposes Rhode Island assault-weapons bills in current form, approves amended resolution 4-0

The Charlestown Town Council voted unanimously May 19 to oppose two Rhode Island bills in their current forms while affirming support for the U.S. and Rhode Island constitutions and local hunters and sportsmen.

The council’s amended resolution—approved 4-0 after public comment and council amendments—says the Town opposes House Bill 5436 and Senate Bill 359 in their current forms and asks the General Assembly to rework broad definitions in the draft legislation.

The vote capped a nearly three-hour special meeting that opened with the council reading the proposed resolution into the record and closed after extended public comment from residents, firearm owners and opponents of the draft bills. Representative Tina Spears, the state lawmaker representing Charlestown, told the council she supports limiting access to "assault-style" features but said sponsors were negotiating language at the State House and that a firearms registry would be removed from the draft she had seen.

"I support limiting access to these assault style weapons and features," Representative Tina Spears said, adding that she expects exemptions for law enforcement, the military and veterans in the final legislation. She also told the council the sponsors were working to refine the definition of semiautomatic firearms in the bill.

Council debate focused on removing subjective language from the original draft and narrowing the council’s statement to opposing the bills "in their current forms." Councilor Kearney, who proposed the set of edits that the body discussed, said, "I support the Second Amendment. I do not support everything that's written in this resolution," and moved multiple deletions and clarifications to remove wording councilors judged subjective or speculative.

Councilors discussed and adopted a sequence of edits, and the amended resolution retained factual citations to state and federal law in places where the original text quoted legal provisions. After the changes, the council voted to approve the amended resolution; the motion to adopt passed by a 4-0 vote.

Public comment included speakers on both sides of the issue. Several residents urged the council to oppose the bills because they said the draft language would sweep too broadly and could affect commonly owned semiautomatic firearms used for hunting and sport. Others — including parents, teachers and school-safety advocates — urged the council to support state efforts to limit access to weapons they described as enabling mass-casualty events.

The resolution and the council’s discussion cited the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, Rhode Island Constitution Article I, Section 22, U.S. Supreme Court precedents referenced in the draft (District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago), and R.I. Gen. Laws §11-47-41, which the draft resolution cited as a prohibition on government firearm registration.

The council did not adopt policy changes or local ordinances; the action was a formal expression of the town’s position on pending state legislation. Councilors said they intend to forward the amended resolution to state lawmakers to request revisions to the bills’ language.

The council also emphasized that whatever the General Assembly enacts, the town will follow state law. Several councilors and residents said they expect further amendments at the State House and that some provisions in the current draft may change before any final statewide law is passed.