Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Domestic Violence & Firearms in Rhode Island.’ Who Can Have a Gun. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 24 April

Relevant contents

Domestic Violence and Firearms in Rhode Island

Rhode Island does not:

- Prohibit persons convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition (unlike federal law); or
- Authorize or require the removal of firearms from the scene of a domestic violence incident.

Firearm Prohibitions for Persons Subject to Domestic Violence Restraining/Protective Orders

In Rhode Island, if a court, following notice to the respondent and a hearing, issues a protective order that requires the subject of that order to surrender his or her firearms, that person may not purchase or receive, or attempt to purchase or receive, any firearm for the duration of the order. Note that federal law prohibits firearm possession by certain protective order defendants even if the order does not contain this kind of surrender provision.

Removal or Surrender of Firearms When Domestic Violence Restraining/Protective Orders Are Issued

A court issuing a protective order may require the subject of the order to surrender possession or control of any firearms he or she owns or possesses.

If the defendant is present in court at a duly noticed hearing, the court may order the defendant to physically surrender any firearms in his or her immediate physical possession or control, or subject to his or her immediate physical possession or control, within 24 hours of the order, by:

1) surrendering the possession of the guns to the control of any individual not legally prohibited from possessing a firearm who is not related to the defendant by blood, marriage, or other familial or intimate relationship;
2) surrendering the guns to the Rhode Island state police or local police department; or
3) surrendering the firearms to a licensed gun dealer.

If the defendant is not present at the hearing, he or she must surrender his or her firearms within 48 hours after being served with the order, and must file with the court a receipt showing that his or her firearms were either physically surrendered to an individual not legally prohibited from possessing a firearm who is not related to the defendant by blood, marriage, or other familial or intimate relationship, or to a licensed gun dealer within 72 hours after receiving the order…

[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]

Last accessed at:
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/state-laws/domestic-violence-and-firearms-in-rhode-island/