| Chapter 378 |
| 2022 -- H 7890 Enacted 06/29/2022 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES -- WEAPONS |
Introduced By: Representative Raymond A. Hull |
| Date Introduced: March 04, 2022 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 11-47-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-47 entitled "Weapons" is |
| hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 11-47-9. Persons exempt from restrictions. |
| (a) The provisions of § 11-47-8 shall not apply to sheriffs; deputy sheriffs; the |
| superintendent and members of the state police; members of the Rhode Island airport police |
| department; members of the Rhode Island state marshals; Rhode Island state fire marshal; chief |
| deputy state fire marshals; deputy state fire marshals assigned to the bomb squad, and those |
| assigned to the investigation unit; Providence fire department arson investigators, provided that the |
| investigator receiving the permit is a graduate of a police-training academy; correctional officers, |
| chief inspector and inspectors within the office of inspections, within the department of corrections; |
| members of the city or town police force; capitol police investigators of the department of attorney |
| general appointed pursuant to § 42-9-8.1; the witness protection coordinator for the witness |
| protection review board as set forth in chapter 30 of title 12 and subject to the minimum |
| qualifications of § 42-9-8.1; automobile theft investigators of the Rhode Island state police pursuant |
| to § 31-50-1; railroad police while traveling to and from official assignments or while on |
| assignments; conservation officers; or other duly appointed law enforcement officers; nor to |
| members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps of the United States, the National Guard, |
| or organized reserves, when on duty; nor to members of organizations by law authorized to |
| purchase or receive firearms from the United States or this state, provided these members are at, or |
| going to or from, their places of assembly or target practice; nor to officers or employees of the |
| United States authorized by law to carry a concealed firearm; nor to any civilian guard or criminal |
| investigator carrying sidearms or a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official duties |
| under the authority of the commanding officer of the military establishment in the state of Rhode |
| Island where he or she is employed by the United States; nor to any civilian guard carrying sidearms |
| or a concealed firearm in the performance of his or her official duties under the authority of the |
| adjutant general where he or she is employed guarding a national guard facility, provided, that the |
| commanding officer of the military establishment shall have on file with the attorney general of |
| this state a list of the names and addresses of all civilian guards and criminal investigators so |
| authorized; nor to duly authorized military organizations when on duty; nor to members when at, |
| or going to or from, their customary places of assembly; nor to any individual employed in the |
| capacity of warden, associate warden, major, captain, lieutenant, sergeant, correctional officer or |
| investigator at any project owned or operated by a municipal detention facility corporation, |
| including the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility; nor to the regular and/or ordinary transportation |
| of pistols or revolvers as merchandise; nor to any person while transporting a pistol, or revolvers, |
| unloaded from the place of purchase to their residence;, or place of business, from their residence |
| to their place of business or from their place of business to their residence, or to a federal firearms |
| licensee for the purpose of sale, to or from a bona fide gunsmith, or firearms repair facility, to any |
| police station or other location designated as a site of a bona fide "gun buy-back" program, but only |
| if said pistol or revolver is unloaded and any ammunition for said pistol or revolver is not readily |
| or directly accessible from the passenger compartment of such vehicle while transporting same and |
| further provided, that in the case of a vehicle without a compartment separate from the passenger |
| compartment, the firearm or the ammunition shall be stored in a locked container. |
| (b) Persons exempted by the provisions of this section from the provisions of § 11-47-8 |
| shall have the right to carry concealed firearms everywhere within this state; provided, that this |
| shall not be construed as giving the right to carry concealed firearms to a person transporting |
| firearms as merchandise or as household or business goods. |
| SECTION 2. Section 12-7-21 of the General Laws in Chapter 12-7 entitled "Arrest" is |
| hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 12-7-21. "Peace officer" defined. |
| "Peace officer," as used within this chapter, means the following individuals or members |
| of: |
| (1) Rhode Island state police; |
| (2) Any member of a municipal or local police department; |
| (3) Rhode Island airport corporation police; |
| (4) Rhode Island park police; |
| (5) Rhode Island capitol police; |
| (6) Rhode Island conservation officers; |
| (7) Rhode Island department of environmental management officers; |
| (8) Rhode Island fire marshals; |
| (9) Brown University police officers; |
| (10) University of Rhode Island campus police officers; |
| (11) Rhode Island College campus security; |
| (12) Campus security at the Community College of Rhode Island; |
| (13) Rhode Island sheriff's department; |
| (14) The investigators of the department of attorney general appointed pursuant to § 42-9- |
| 8.1; |
| (15) Any federal law enforcement officer; |
| (16) Correctional investigators, chief inspector and inspectors within the office of |
| inspections, and correctional officers of the Rhode Island department of corrections; |
| (17) The witness protection coordinator of the department of attorney general; |
| (18) The warden, associate wardens, majors, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, correctional |
| officers and investigators employed by a project operated by a municipal detention facility |
| corporation, including, but not limited to, the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility; provided, such |
| parties listed in this subsection (18) herein shall be deemed to be peace officers while in |
| performance of their duties for the municipal detention facility only, and shall not be deemed to be |
| peace officers at any time when they are not in performance of said duties; |
| (19) Retired non-permanent sworn members of any municipal police department shall be |
| deemed to be peace officers only while in the performance of their duties for any municipal police |
| department, and shall be permitted to carry their firearm while in the performance of their duties |
| for the municipal police department, and shall be subject to in-service training requirements of title |
| 42, chapter 28; |
| (20) Auto theft investigators appointed pursuant to § 31-50-1; |
| (21) Providence fire department arson investigators; provided, that the arson investigator |
| is a graduate of a police-training academy; and |
| (22) Rhode Island School of Design police officers. |
| SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC004881 |
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