Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
News : Recent Press Releases     Op-Ed     Publications     About the Legislative Press Bureau Printer Friendly View
6/25/2018 General Assembly passes legislation requiring attorney general to report annually on crimes involving guns
STATE HOUSE — The General Assembly has passed legislation introduced by Rep. Stephen M. Casey (D-Dist. 50, Woonsocket) and Sen. Stephen R. Archambault (D-Dist. 22, Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston) that would require the attorney general to make annual reports on crimes involving guns.

The legislation (2018-H 7162aa, 2018-S 2134A) would direct the attorney general to make the reports to the General Assembly by March 31 of each year.

“I feel it’s very important that we make legislative decisions based on fact,” said Representative Casey. “That means we need empirical data on how this state is affected by crimes that are committed with a gun. These are emotional times for everyone on both sides of gun issues. The people of Rhode Island deserve the truth. This should compel the attorney general to give us data about these crimes, how they were adjudicated, so we can better understand the facts when crafting legislation.”

The report would show for each of the counties of the state the number of indictments and information cases with respect to crimes involving a gun pending at the beginning of the year, the number of indictments returned filed in such cases during the year, and the number of indictments disposed of in such cases during the year.

“The attorney general is the top law enforcement official in the state, and we rely heavily on him for accurate information as a tool when making laws,” said Senator Archambault, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “As it stands now, we have no reporting mechanism for the General Assembly. I’d like to see a comprehensive report so we can see those statistics and adapt our laws based on that information.”

The report would also show the number of offenders in such cases punished by sentence or imprisonment, or by the payment of a fine, and be subdivided to show the sex and age of the offenders arranged by decades. The report would be compiled using statistics provided by the Rhode Island statewide judicial information system.

The measure now moves to the governor’s office.



For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922