Pro-Second Amendment organizations said they would launch court challenges against a bill in Rhode Island that would give owners of modern semiautomatic firearms six months to dispose of them.
Democratic Rhode Island state Sen. Tiara Mack introduced S2710 on Feb. 27 with eight co-sponsors, legislation that tightens the state’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” by prohibiting possession of the firearms. Under the terms of the legislation, those who own prohibited firearms would have until Dec. 31 to either sell them to a licensed dealer or transfer them to an out-of-state resident who could legally own them, something pro-Second Amendment organizations say would violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
“This is pretty, pretty terrifying stuff as far as the Second Amendment goes,” a National Rifle Association (NRA) spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation about the bill, which has yet to advance out of the Rhode Island state Senate Judiciary Committee. Mack did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF, but on her campaign site, she called for numerous restrictions targeting gun owners.
“Rhode Island Senate Bill 2710 is gun confiscation, plain and simple. Under this bill, if you legally own one of the firearms targeted by Rhode Island’s so-called ‘assault weapons’ ban, the state is now aiming to turn you into a felon for keeping what you already own,” Gun Owners of America Director of State Affairs Chris Stone said.
A NRA spokesperson said that the ban was insidious in terms of the choice it would force gun owners to make. “Either you can sell it at an extreme loss, and as you know, a lot of these can be very, unique or, or firearms or of course very sentimental firearms because they’re passed after your family and being told you have to either sell that for pennies on the dollar or [have them] destroyed,” the NRA spokesperson said.
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence (RICAGV) argued on its website that a ban on possessing assault weapons was necessary.
“In 2025, Rhode Island became the 11th state to restrict certain military-style weapons, including assault-style rifles like the AR-15. However, the law does not cover some assault-style pistols and shotguns and, critically, does not ban possession—making it difficult to enforce, leaving dangerous weapons in circulation, and falling short of neighboring states’ standards,” the group said. “While the Unlawful Sale of Prohibited Firearms Act is a step toward reducing access, it does not go far enough. A ban on possession is the logical next step, ensuring that firearms deemed too dangerous to sell cannot be possessed.”
RICAGV did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
“Most people own a gun for self-defense. However, there is nothing defensive about a gun that can shoot multiple rounds per second,” Mack claimed. “Tiara supports an assault weapons ban that would prevent these guns, and any guns with large capacity magazines (10 rounds or more), from being sold in Rhode Island. This ban is proven to work country-wide.”
On her campaign site, Mack also claimed she “does not believe in taking away the guns of Rhode Islanders,” yet the legislation, if enacted, would force them to sell firearms to federally licensed dealers. She also claimed on her site that “while the freedom to own a gun is an American one, the freedom to live safely is even more so.”
The NRA, already planning to challenge anti-Second Amendment legislation nearing enactment in Virginia, also is preparing to take on the Rhode Island bill should it become law.
“Rhode Island’s attempt to convert a sales ban into outright confiscation of lawfully owned firearms is a dangerous test run for what gun control extremists hope to impose nationwide,” NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford told the DCNF. “What begins as a so-called ‘reasonable’ restriction in a small state quickly becomes a blueprint for door-to-door seizures, forced sales at a loss, and the steady destruction of the Second Amendment.”
“Law-abiding citizens who followed the rules yesterday are suddenly branded criminals tomorrow—this is precisely how our rights are lost by a thousand cuts,” Commerford continued. “Americans in every state must recognize this as the national warning it represents: no corner of the country is safe from politicians who treat the right to keep and bear arms as optional.”
While several states have passed legislation banning the sale or transfer of so-called “assault weapons,” none have ever sought gun confiscation, which was pushed by former Democratic presidential candidates Beto O’Rourke and Eric Swalwell during the 2020 primaries, citing Australia’s actions after the 1996 Port Arthur shooting as an example to emulate. In 1991, after New York City banned so-called “assault weapons,” registered owners were told to surrender the guns, move them out of the jurisdiction or destroy them.
Canadian Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree told a member of Parliament during a March hearing that legislation containing an Australia-style “buyback” of so-called “assault weapons”, after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government banned over 2,500 types of modern semiautomatic firearms, could be enforced by law enforcement officers being sent to handle the “collection” of prohibited firearms.
In Rhode Island, Democrats have large majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, with a 34 to 4 margin in the state Senate and a 64-10 margin in the state House of Representatives, according to Ballotpedia.
“This legislation guts the practical meaning of grandfathering by only tolerating prior lawful possession until the end of 2026, after which gun owners are forced to sell their property to a dealer, move it out of state, or face felony consequences,” Stone said. “This is state-mandated confiscation of common arms from people who have done nothing wrong, and Gun Owners of America strongly opposes it. We will continue to fight against rogue state legislatures and these gun bans in court.”
Other pro-Second Amendment groups said they were preparing to challenge the legislation in court should it pass.
“This is gun confiscation with a countdown clock. It is a brazen ultimatum handed down by politicians who swore an oath to the Constitution and then set it on fire,” Taylor Rhodes, director of communications for the National Association for Gun Rights, told the DCNF. “Make no mistake, every elected official who signed onto this bill has declared open hostility toward the right to keep and bear arms.”
“They are betting that gun owners will roll over,” Rhodes continued. “They are betting that families will quietly liquidate their rights, pack up their property, and accept being treated like criminals for owning firearms that were perfectly legal the day before.”
The Firearms Policy Coalition, whose website touts a “lawsuit printer” that has challenged numerous laws restricting Second Amendment rights, described the sponsors as “depraved tyrants” in a statement to the DCNF.
“This bill would order Rhode Island law enforcement to cage gun owners for up to ten years for possessing constitutionally protected firearms they legally own today. That’s like passing a law that says owning a Bible gets you prison time alongside violent rapists and murderers,” FPC President Brandon Combs said. “It’s insane. It’s evil. And it’s what depraved tyrants do.”
“If this bill passes, FPC will take aggressive action to protect Rhode Islanders stuck behind enemy lines-and the politicians behind this should remember there are more of us than there are of them,” Combs continued.
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