Rhode Island House Minority Leader Chippendale Comments on the Assault Weapons Ban
State House, Providence, RI – Rhode Island House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale offers the following statement in regard to the Assault Weapons Ban legislation:
The passage of the amended Assault Weapons Ban marks a dark day for constitutional governance in Rhode Island. What was once presented as a public safety measure has now been fully unmasked as nothing more than a political trophy – an opportunistic maneuver by a handful of ambitious politicians desperate to elevate their public profiles and position themselves for higher office.
These are the very same lawmakers who, just weeks ago, decried administrative pay increases of $80,000 as irresponsible during a time of budget crisis. And yet, with full knowledge that this bill will trigger immediate and expensive legal challenges, they voted to expose our already strained state budget to the guaranteed costs of defending an unconstitutional law in court. The price tag? Hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of taxpayer dollars. Their hypocrisy is staggering.
Let’s call it what it is: political theater, funded by the citizens of Rhode Island. These politicians are not standing on principle – they are using this bill as a weapon in their own political campaigns. Whether it’s an attempt to deny the Governor a policy victory or to bolster their own bid for Attorney General, their actions are driven not by public safety, but by personal ambition.
Worse still is the blatant disregard for the Constitution. These elected officials – who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution – have shredded that oath for the sake of a headline and a talking point. They know this bill flies in the face of the Second Amendment and recent Supreme Court precedent in Heller and Bruen. They know it targets law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to disarm criminals. And they know it will fail in court. Yet they voted for it anyway.
This legislation is nothing more than an insult to the law-abiding firearm owners in Rhode Island. It criminalizes the continued lawful purchase of firearms that are legal, stored safely, and used responsibly. It also undermines our eligibility for vital federal conservation funds, jeopardizing public land maintenance and our outdoor recreation economy. It will harm Rhode Island businesses, cost us jobs, and decrease revenue – all in the name of political ambition. And just as the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban – it will not stop a single crime, as criminals simply don’t follow the laws of our state and nation. To believe this ban will have any different result is naïve at best, and dishonest as worst.
Let’s also not forget the deceptive tactics employed to manufacture support for this bill. National groups like Everytown deliberately manipulated our public input process, misleading both the public and this legislative body. Their email campaigns were engineered to trick gun rights supporters into submitting pro-ban messages. These dishonest tactics further erode any credibility the supporters of this bill claim to have.
The truth is evident: this legislation is legally vulnerable, fiscally irresponsible, economically damaging, and wildly unpopular with the people of Rhode Island. Opposition at the State House outnumbered supporters by an overwhelming margin. The public testimony was clear. The emails to legislators have been unmistakable.
What just passed was not a thoughtful policy – it was a campaign stunt. And the people of Rhode Island will be the ones who pay the price.
I remain committed to protecting the constitutional rights of Rhode Islanders and will oppose every attempt to erode them in the name of political ambition.
The 2025 Rhode Island House Minority (Republican) Caucus is comprised of the following elected members: Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale, District 40 (Foster/Glocester/Coventry); Minority Whip David J. Place, District 47 (Burrillville/Glocester); Representative George Nardone, District 28 (Coventry); Representative Brian Newberry, District 48 (North Smithfield/Burrillville); Representative Robert Quattrocchi, District 41 (Scituate/Cranston); Representative Sherry Roberts, District 29 (Coventry/West Greenwich); Representative Richard Fascia, District 42 (Johnston/Cranston); Representative Marie Hopkins, District 21 (Warwick); Representative Chris Paplauskas, District 15 (Cranston); Representative Paul Santucci, District 53 (Smithfield/Glocester).