AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS

2025 Regular Session Introduced by David Bennett and 8 co-sponsors

Rhode Island updates weapon exemptions, replacing state marshal with capitol police to explicitly cover capitol police and investigators under firearm restrictions.

06/26/2025 Effective without Governor's signature

Purpose / Intent

This bill updates Rhode Island’s weapons statutes to replace references to “state marshals” with “capitol police” in two statutory exemption provisions. The stated intent is to clarify which law‑enforcement title (capitol police) is recognized as exempt from certain state weapon restrictions.

Key provisions

Amends R.I. Gen. Laws:

§ 11-47-9 (Persons exempt from restrictions)
§ 11-47-35.1 (Persons exempt from § 11-47-35)

Replaces references to “state marshals” (and related phrasings) with “capitol police” in both sections, so that the list of persons exempt from certain firearms prohibitions explicitly includes capitol police and “capitol police investigators” where applicable.

Leaves intact the substantive exemptions in § 11-47-9 (including sheriffs, state police, municipal police, correctional officers, certain fire investigators, military personnel on duty, persons transporting unloaded firearms under specified conditions, etc.) but substitutes the capitol police designation for the former “state marshal” designation.

Section 11-47-9(b) retains that persons exempted under that section “shall have the right to carry concealed firearms everywhere within this state” (subject to the section’s enumerated limits).

Effective date: the act takes effect upon passage (noted as effective without the Governor’s signature on 06/26/2025).

Who is affected

Directly affected: members and investigators of the Rhode Island Capitol Police (they are explicitly named among those exempted from certain weapon restrictions).

Indirectly affected: any individuals or agencies whose weapons-authority or exemption status relied on the statutory “state marshal” designation; the amendment clarifies which office/title the exemptions apply to.

No change to exemptions for other listed categories (sheriffs, state police, municipal police, correctional officers, federally authorized personnel, etc.), except insofar as the name substitution modifies the specific class covered.

Procedural / timeline highlights

Introduced: April 22, 2025 (House Judiciary) — sponsors listed in bill text include Representatives Hull, J. Lombardi, Corvese, Bennett, Lima, Slater, O'Brien, DeSimone, and Biah.

Committee action: recommended passage (committee recommended held for further study earlier in April, later recommended passage).

House passage: 06/10/2025

Senate concurrence: 06/18/2025

Transmitted to Governor: 06/18/2025

Effective: 06/26/2025 (became law without Governor’s signature)

Notes / Implications

The bill appears primarily technical/nomenclatural — it does not create new exemptions beyond those already present, nor does it add substantive new rights or restrictions beyond clarifying which office is covered.

By clarifying the exempted title as “capitol police,” the statute reduces ambiguity about whether the prior “state marshal” references applied to current capitol police personnel.

Bill